Gardens

overlapped with the desire to achieve maximum accessibility for user engagement. We know the garden provides a multitude of sensory experiences and while it was obvious that appropriate plant material would be a prominent part of the equation, the physical layout of these spaces needed to help accomplish access and engagement.

Prior to my work associated with the examples below, I had visited many healing gardens around the country and observed and recorded a wide range of features and plantings. One of my favorite gardens for ideas, particularly related to accessibility and programming, is the Buehler Enabling Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Built over 20 years ago, this 11,000 sq. ft., barrier-free space is packed with all sorts of great ideas ranging from elevated garden beds and vertical planters to sensory-based water

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(continued from page 11) features many, adaptive garden examples. Maximum accessibility is embedded in the layout and design. This is certainly a space to visit and enjoy as both beauty and accessibility are obvious priorities. The Buehler Enabling Garden, when first opened, was touted as the “reaffirmation of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s commitment to horticultural therapy and safe, comfortable and healthy gardening for everyone.”

Edgerton (WI) Hospital and Health Services Healing Garden

Along with dozens of amazing volunteers, I currently maintain and manage a 3-acre healing garden at Edgerton (WI) Hospital and Health Services. This hospital is a small, 15-bed, critical-care facility south of Madison, WI serving a surrounding population of over 15,000 area residents. I designed the healing garden in 2001 as this hospital was newly constructed on a 70 acre site that also includes adjacent woodlands with walking trails and a nicely landscaped, primary campus. The healing garden was intended when the hospital was designed in allowing the majority of the recovery rooms to view the garden and additionally, the busy physical/occupational therapy wing has full view and easy access to the garden as well. The hospital continues to promote their “rooms with a view” as the beauty of the garden is self-advertising in saying, “Come out and visit!”. The design (continued on page 14)

(continued from page 12) was meant to provide enriching spaces for both active use and gatherings but also privacy and contemplation. Sensory stimulation continues to be a primary goal.

The garden is all-accessible with no steps and the majority of the concrete paths are at least 8’ wide and fairly level. A 6-8’ path width is ideal for two wheelchairs to pass or be moving together in tandem. The meandering path layout, complete with path lighting, includes destinations like sitting areas, a “spongy” yoga pad, curved shaded arbor and large pavilion. Staff will frequently have lunch out in the garden or gather for informal meetings. A small, compact walking labyrinth “spiral”, planted in silver and blue, also accents the space. Included in the garden is a 2,000 sq. ft. “pollinator berm” which includes a vast array of appropriate plantings to provide pollen and nectar for our native pollinators. This berm is a popular, grant-funded garden space to observe natural cycles of seasonality, pollinators and plenty of color.

It was important that sitting areas didn’t compromise path widths so bench pads were offset and spaced roughly every 50’ and offer wonderful views of a central pond. The pond is actually a retention basin for runoff from the adjacent facility roofs although it has been augmented and beautified with shoreline plantings, two waterfalls and a central bubbler. The pond is certainly the centerpiece of the space which accommodates a wide range of visitors

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(continued from page 14) from those in active therapy, to family members visiting patients and staff that simply need to recharge. An ADA-compliant ramp brings visitors right down to the water level on one side of the pond which is full of ducks, frogs, dragonflies and other wildlife.

The garden is conveniently located and accessed by three primary entrances and the location of the garden behind the hospital offers a peaceful and private refuge for everyone. I continually work with the therapy staff to create situations out in the garden that will help them with specific patient outcomes. While the design of this space had to encompass a broad perspective, it’s through the refinements in accessibility and plantings that we further achieve successes related to all of the garden users and visitors. The garden is open to the public and also hosts plant sales, yoga, Tai chi and community events. The hospital also hosts an annual horticultural therapy conference each year that features the healing garden and a popular gardening lecture series engages the public. The garden also actively grows vegetables and herbs for the progressive café.

Rotary Botanical Gardens Wellness Garden

In 2018, a 2-acre Wellness Garden that I designed nearly 10 years previously was funded and installed at Rotary Botanical (continued on page 19)

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Gardens in Janesville, WI. The challenge in implementing this design revolved primarily around defining why this space was necessary and how it would differ from the 25 other garden themes over the 20-acre botanic garden (founded in 1989). With a demographic of visitors and volunteers that couldn’t fully experience the garden due to accessibility issues, the primary thrust of this garden improvement was all-accessibility and proximity to our users for immediate enjoyment and engagement. It was amazing how popular this garden became for all visitors but particularly those with mobility impairments and the groups that the garden hosted for more involved therapeutic gardening activities. This circular garden is actually the first of five phases in a 4-acre space that will later include more accessible gardening ideas and therapeutic opportunities. The garden includes long, curving, raised beds of two different heights. The beds are only 4’ wide which allows for access and reach from both sides with the lower bed (24” in height) wheelchair accessible and the taller bed (36” in height) perfect for “no stoop” gardening at waist height. Caps on both wall heights allow for leaning, resting or sitting and gardening to the side in the shorter beds for volunteers. Unsurprisingly, some older volunteers at Rotary Botanical Gardens were excited to shift to these raised gardening opportunities as traditional gardening was becoming a bit more challenging. A central fountain with tiered levels provided a soothing auditory component and was the visual focal point in a space with radial paths, brick highlights at the intersections and lush plantings with a heavy sensory focus included throughout the garden. The raised beds, on an annual basis, contained over 100 varieties of fragrant plants (with signage) for visitors to experience and enjoy. Tactile plants were also placed along raised bed edges for engagement. Toxic plants of any sort weren’t used and avoiding pesti- cide and herbicide use in this space was a standing policy.

The concrete paths were all tinted (tan and pink) to minimize glare and were all slightly pitched from the center to drain and dry quickly. Avoiding slippery materials was paramount in the design. An adjacent walking labyrinth pattern in colored paver blocks was installed as well. The labyrinth promotes a meditative experience and isn’t uncommon in healing gardens and healthcare settings. Labyrinths (there are many styles and materials) have over 4,000 years of history and this one has been actively used by visitors.

We can “sell” beautiful landscapes for their ornamental qualities. However, the need for more focused spaces that accommodate user limitations while implementing and addressing the needs of all visitors, will make these healing gardens even more vital in today’s world. These restorative and enabling spaces will provide therapeutic qualities, both tangible and intangible, that will have a broad appeal for a wide range of future clientele.