Prayerfully Planted

Guilford Maintains Meditation Garden He & Late Wife Sowed

Driving along the main drag into Hartford’s downtown square, many motorists likely overlook the entrance to a garden dedicated to prayer and meditation. Those who do notice it may assume the garden is only for members of the adjacent church.

But longtime caretaker Henry “Buddy” Guilford says the garden is for everyone.

“It’s God’s property, and we wanted to use it as a way of stewardship, giving back to our community,” he says.

Formally named Eden, Hartford’s Garden of Prayer, the inspiration to develop the space came from a trip Guilford and his late wife, Patricia, took to a prayer garden near Charleston, South Carolina. The Guilfords — known to many area gardeners for the rose garden at their home — talked about doing a similar project locally and their church, Hartford Baptist, made the prayer garden as a gift to the community. It is located on a church-owned lot facing Highway 52.

Guilford was recently honored by the Silent Heroes of the Wiregrass, a program created to recognize those who quietly help their communities and others. Through the partnership between Wiregrass Electric Cooperative (WEC) and WTVY, the honorees receive $1,000 — an award Guilford says will go to repair a fountain in the garden.

The garden, established in 2005, is known as a biblical garden because it features plants and trees that grew in the Holy Land during biblical times. Plaques designate such plants with Bible verses — aloe, grape vine, olive and palm trees, papyrus, poppy, and more. Between 40 and 50 biblical plants suited for the Wiregrass are growing in the prayer garden.

Benches and statues are situated around the garden, and a garden prayer “room,” designated by an archway and surrounded by tall vegetation, offers visitors a bit of privacy if they want it. There are more benches within the prayer room, centered by a cross-shaped flower bed.

“Hartford’s prayer garden is a place for reflection open for use by anyone who needs it, and the care Buddy Guilford has shown for keeping this space vibrant is an inspiration to us all,” WEC Vice President of Member Services and Communication Stevie Sauls says. “When you visit the garden, you can feel the love that has been put into it.”

Guilford doesn’t think of himself as a hero, referring to his title as “weed puller,” and says there are a lot of volunteers who have helped tend to the prayer garden over the years.

“I’m truly humbled by this recognition,” Guilford says. “It’s not for me, it’s for the garden. The hero is the garden itself.”