ATLANTA -- We're not going to tell you where Mark Hamm's secret garden is. It is a secret garden, after all. But Hamm, a respiratory therapist at a Metro Atlanta children's hospital, agreed to show it to us for one very good reason: to illustrate that life can grow and thrive almost anywhere, even in a narrow little alley squeezed by a rusty old chain link fence.

"Unfortunately, I work in a world where children die everyday," Hamm says from behind an engaging smile. "And here, I watch growth, and it means the world to me."

When Hamm takes you on a tour of this special place, you're struck first by how truly narrow a space it is; you cannot stand in parts of it with a shoulder to one fence and fully extend your other arm. But then you're amazed at how much life is growing...no, thriving there in petite little plots mirthfully decorated with wooden chickens and Transformer toys. Tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, lavender, sunflowers, zinnias, the myriad of things growing in this needle's eye is dizzying.

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SLIDESHOW: Going Green In Unlikely Place

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But what's even more remarkable is knowing what this plot of earth looked like before Hamm embraced it. It was a no-mans land wedged between two Southeast Atlanta properties, littered with trash, old barbed wire, combative weeds and dangerously sharp rusted metal stakes, kind of an urban Verdun battlefield.

"An employee at the industrial facility next door came by one day and thanked me for the beauty," says Hamm. "She said it gives her pleasure to see my garden every day."

Deeply religious, Hamm looked at this narrow plot of land in early spring and says he felt a higher presence, as if God was telling him he needed to rescue it. "For me, I truly believe to watch God's work and see God's work in action, there's some hope and reward for that. It reassures me."

But that doesn't mean the secret garden came easy. It took a lot of hard work transforming this weed-infested purgatory into a green paradise. Hamm struggled in the tiny space for weeks yanking weeds and planting seeds. And the work never stops. He vanishes into the little space for hours at a time, tending the plants, creating a stone path, and leaving art work around for special visitors to enjoy. And signs are posted everywhere, reminders of what Hamm says are the important things in life: Kindness Matters and In Everything Give Thanks.

"A garden is a place for reflection," says Hamm. "It's a place that someone should gather strength, hope and love from and reflection. And so, as you walk through the garden, you should be able to appreciate that. So, hence, the small signs through the garden."

Fully organic and positioned to soak in the morning sun, the garden is already producing remarkably abundant crops as if it's giving thanks for being rescued. But even if the garden hadn't produced a single squash or zucchini, Hamm believes the effort has been worth it. "Pulling the weeds away, tilling it by hand, watching Gods beauty. Most of it is therapy for me."

And he proves to others that life can grow anywhere, if just given a chance.

This article was written by Channel 2 Action News reporter Richard Elliot.