Barbara Lawson of Meet Me in the Dirt shares how grief led her to garden therapy, where she discovered the healing power of nature and the bonds forged through community.
A few months ago, I attended a Black Wellness and Healing retreat filled with self-care activities like massages, physical therapy, acupuncture, and horticulture therapy. It was the horticulture session that piqued my interest the most. It felt like an opportunity to try something completely new.
As the final activity of the day, the session brought together a circle of Black women under the guidance of Barbara Lawson. With sleeves rolled up and soil in hand, I quickly realized this was more than a simple lesson in potting a houseplant. What began as a practical task became a deeply grounding experience, leaving me not just with a plant, but a renewed sense of empowerment.
Gardening as Therapy
I’m a daughter of the Most High, a wife, a mother, and I consider myself a world changer.
Lawson always loved nature but growing up as a little Black girl, she was often discouraged from getting dirty. But in the years following the death of her mother, she sought ways to self-soothe. This eventually led her to gardening, as a way to carve out alone time and express herself creatively. Her backyard became a sanctuary, offering a space to escape responsibilities and rebuild her sense of self.
Grief pushed me to find something nurturing and grounding. Gardening was my way to start over—gutting my backyard was like gutting my heart and piecing it back together.
“I wanted to create a space where I could feel comforted and cared for, and nature offered that to me,” she explains. The process of gutting her backyard and starting anew became a metaphor for rebuilding her life, offering comfort, solitude, and a nurturing space to reclaim her sense of self.
From Personal Practice to Community Impact
Barbara began to document her gardening online and gained an audience inspired by her experience. “People kept asking me if I could help them find that same peace and resilience,” she recalls. Her concept of “building something beautiful out of nothing” resonated with others.
What is Meet Me in the Dirt?
Meet Me in the Dirt is a plant shop and therapeutic space in Redondo Beach, California, housed in the South Bay Galleria. Founded by Barbara Lawson, a certified grief counselor and artist, it combines therapy, gardening, and community to create a culturally relevant, holistic approach to healing. Through hands-on horticulture therapy and community events, Barbara’s initiative helps individuals find peace and resilience by nurturing both plants and themselves.
A Holistic Approach
In recent years, “Black girls who garden” has become a trend. While it’s beautiful and inspirational, Barbara’s concept of gardening goes beyond the social media aesthetic. Meet Me in the Dirt takes a holistic approach to gardening, that includes cultural practices and community.
Therapy shouldn’t just be a one-size-fits-all approach. It needs to be culturally relevant, especially for Black people who carry generational grief.
Barbara recognizes the emotional toll of guiding people to confront their grief and vulnerabilities. Encouraging others to sit with their pain requires a delicate balance of empathy and resilience. But she is dedicated to facilitating a safe space for the community. It’s also why she emphasizes group healing sessions.
One of the hardest parts is asking people to sit with their pain, to really face it, and that’s a vulnerable space.
Barbara’s Vision for the Future
Barbara’s vision emphasizes creating safe, empowering spaces for community healing and growth. She believes true growth happens when individuals come together, uplift one another, and hold space for collective resilience.
I want us to move from just surviving to truly thriving, and that happens when we come together and create safe spaces.
Lawson wants to create safe spaces for Black men. She acknowledges the unique challenges they face when it comes to vulnerability and healing. “I have yet to do an all-men’s group, and that’s what I really want to do,” she shares, her voice filled with hope and determination. “All Black men…my heart. To create a safe space for them, to show that their vulnerability matters and that there are those of us who want to support them—that’s big for me.”
Barbara envisions these sessions as part of her broader mission to bring community-based therapy to all facets of the Black experience. She believes that healing comes in many forms and encourages everyone, from families to teams, to embrace the process. “We all have a role to play in disrupting the narratives about us. Let’s build each other up.”
Meet Me in the Dirt: From Grief to Growth
Barbara Lawson’s Meet Me in the Dirt initiative has made a profound impact on the Los Angeles community. It offers Black communities an innovative, culturally rooted approach to healing. By integrating therapy, gardening, and community-building, Lawson has redefined what it means to nurture oneself and others in times of grief and transformation.
This is just the beginning. I’m here for the journey, wherever it takes me.
Her work is a powerful reminder of the strength found in reclaiming spaces, honoring grief, and finding joy in growth.
