Finding wisdom in the garden.
A pivotal moment in Leigh Barnes’ life happened one night while eating crabs with a neighbor. The neighbor, who was friends with then-Goucher College president Rhoda Dorsey, learned that Leigh had attended a junior college many years earlier but had left without receiving a degree.
The neighbor told Leigh, a current Edenwald resident, about Goucher II, a re-entry plan for adults who wish to complete or begin their undergraduate studies at Goucher College. Leigh was skeptical but decided to give it a try.
Two years later, Leigh was well into the Goucher II program when she had an epiphany: “What was I going to do with an art history degree?” she says. She decided to transfer to the University of Maryland, where she earned a degree in horticultural production. She was 50 years old.
Leigh started a business, Companion Plantings, in which she would visit her clients’ homes to help them plant and maintain container gardens. She hired a crew of women and ran the business for 30 years before retiring and moving into Edenwald in March 2025.
Once in the community, it didn’t take long for Leigh to, literally, get her hands dirty. She was given one of the 26 container-garden boxes that line the Green Roof between the Towers and The Terraces buildings.
Leigh planted annuals that would bloom toward the end of the season. As she groomed the plants in her container, she also began tending to some of the other containers that, in her opinion, could have used a little TLC. “I don’t like seeing things going to pot,” she explains.
A “loosey-goosey” committee.
Leigh joined the Edenwald Garden Committee, which she describes as a “loosey-goosey” confederation of about a half dozen residents. Despite serving as president of the Maryland Horticulture Society for four years—or perhaps because of it—Leigh confesses, “I’m not one for running committees. I don’t love that work. I’d much rather be down on my hands and knees pulling weeds.”
Later this year, Leigh and one or two other garden committee members will also be planting the pots at the Edenwald entrance and adding some perennials that could survive the winter next to the rooftop fishpond.
Return to Goucher College.
Leigh is an active participant in the Community Garden, a joint venture between Edenwald and Goucher College, located on the college’s campus. “There are some students who have been steadily working on the garden there. They’re very enthusiastic, and they just love it,” Leigh says. “But, of course, they’re gone in the summer.” (As of press time, Leigh was coordinating with the students to determine how she could maintain the garden in their absence.)
The Community Garden is home to some vegetables and “beautiful bulbs,” according to Leigh. The garden also features raised planter boxes that allow anyone in a wheelchair the chance to garden at waist level. “It’s a lovely idea,” Leigh says.
Returning to Goucher College after having been away for so many years has been something of a surreal experience for Leigh. The campus has evolved so much during that time that she barely recognizes it. And while Leigh is excited about the various intergenerational activities and experiences available to Edenwald residents as the evolution into a college-enriched senior living community continues, she is proceeding with caution.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t overload my calendar with too many things, and then regret it,” Leigh says. This is especially true during the spring and summer, when Leigh says, “It would be insane for me to take on anything other than what I’m doing with the gardens.”
The Zen of gardening.
Research shows that older adults can reap numerous benefits from gardening. These include increased exposure to vitamin D, aerobic exercise, opportunities for socialization, mood-boosting benefits (by lowering cortisol levels), and even a reduced risk of developing dementia.
For Leigh, gardening is a source of happiness. “It just brings me joy, knowing that you’re putting something in the ground for everyone to enjoy, to see the beauty of it,” she says. “It gives me enormous pleasure to be able to take care of something, keep it healthy and thriving.”
Gardening also provides Leigh with a respite from the sometimes-frenetic pace of day-to-day life. “We’re all moving,” she says. “I move way too fast, but the whole practice of gardening is about slowing down and appreciating the moment. If we just stay still, it’s amazing what you can see in this world.”
Leigh carries this Zen-like worldview over into her philosophy on aging. “If we give ourselves permission to be in the moment, it can be amazing,” she says. “But so much of our culture is wrapped up in this idea that we have to have something to show for our time. We have to be productive, and that puts a guilt trip on us, and that is crazy. I no longer feel that need, and that’s been one of the beautiful things about getting old. That’s one of the things I’m truly loving.”
If you’d like to learn more about gardening and all the other opportunities to find peace and joy in our community, call an Edenwald Residency Counselor at 410-339-6263.
Edenwald’s expansion project is subject to final approval by the Maryland Department of Aging.
