Hi everyone — I’m so glad you’re here.

In September of last year, I launched Gardens by Monika on YouTube and Instagram. I didn’t have a rigid plan (and truthfully, I still don’t). What I had was a growing desire — to share my love of gardening and home in a more meaningful way.

Gardening entered my life during a season of uncertainty. Like many of us, I was navigating change — caring for a parent with dementia, raising a young child, and reassessing a career that no longer aligned with my values.

In the middle of that noise, gardening became something steady.
A place to slow down.
To learn.
To reconnect with myself in a tangible way.

Over the past five years, I’ve built gardens, made costly mistakes, adjusted, redesigned, and learned through experience. I’ve also formed friendships I never expected. That journey — imperfect and ongoing — is what led me here.

This space is where I share:

• Seasonal guidance rooted in real experience
• Practical observations (including what didn’t work)
• Design decisions behind my own garden and home
• And reflections on creating spaces that feel calm, layered, and livable

You may see glimpses of it in my videos — in the January Garden Tour, in workshop gatherings, in small design choices that evolve season by season.

As Gardens by Monika continues to grow, the heart of it remains simple:

To create a place to gather.
To share creativity.
To cultivate a sense of calm in a world that rarely slows down.

If something here gives you a moment of quiet, encourages you to try gardening for the first time, or helps you design your home with more intention — then it’s doing exactly what it’s meant to do.

Take what resonates. Leave the rest.
And thank you for being here.

— Monika