This journal article describes the elements required for the design and construction of a successful therapeutic garden in a healthcare facility. Included are three patient case studies to illustrate the benefits of horticultural therapy and best practices of therapeutic design.

1. LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECTURE
IN
CANADA
LANDSCAPES
PAYSAGES
L’ A R C H I T E C T U R E D E P AY S A G E A U C A N A D A
Fall/Automne 2005
Creating Landscapes for Seniors
The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects
L’Association des architectes paysagistes du Canada
Vol. 7/No. 4
L’art d’aménager pour nos ainés

2. 30 LANDSCAPES I PAYSAGES
by/par Paul Allison with/avec Richard Kavadas
Design aesthetics are extremely important
to landscape architects, but aesthetics must
become a secondary concern when designing
therapeutic landscapes, lest the function of
the landscapes be lost. Nonetheless, every
landscape architect knows that following the
building codes does not preclude creativity.
As well, many beautiful garden elements can
also make excellent therapeutic tools.
The missing link
Understanding what aesthetic elements
will work — and what won’t — is not a
simple matter. Horticultural Therapists (HT)
can provide a link between the design and
therapeutic values. For example, it is easy to
determine how wide a pathway must be to
accommodate a wheelchair; it’s in the
building codes. But knowing how a planting
layout can support a therapeutic program is
an entirely different matter. Information is not
easy to find.
To design successful therapeutic gardens
for a seniors’ residence, landscape architects
need to focus on the changes that will
inevitably occur as the residents age. Designs
drawn to suit the present situation alone may
not be flexible enough. The HT can lay out the
projected needs of the residents over time.
How will therapeutic needs change? Ideally, a
garden will continue to offer residents an
“organic” relationship with the landscape —
that is, a relationship with the plants,
regardless of their decreasing levels of
activity or mobility. At the same time, the
garden is changing with age as well.
A therapist’s tool kit
The relationship between people and
plants has piqued my interest for the last 23
years. My work has involved the application
of therapeutic approaches to landscapes for
seniors’ facilities around the globe. As well,
I’ve gathered knowledge through private and
joint research projects. (An unpublished
research project funded by Royal Roads
University examined the impact of gardening
and gardens on seniors in British Columbia
Senior Health Care facilities.)
The people/plant relationship is the
therapist’s tool kit. Sometimes, simply feeling
the texture of a leaf or watching a flower
blossom in the spring makes a connection.
Colour and scent are two other excellent tools.
Scent is one of the most significant memory
aids. The scent of a favourite childhood food
can bring old memories flooding back. The
scent and colour of flowers can trigger
memories of special occasions or gardens
that the residents once knew.
At one facility where we worked, at the
request of residents and their families, we
Rendering/Rendu : Ryan James
Si l’esthétique du design est
extrêmement importante pour les
architectes paysagistes, elle joue un
rôle de second plan lors de la
conception de paysages
thérapeutiques, sinon la fonction des
paysages risque d’être perdue.
Certains architectes paysagistes
demandent donc conseil aux
thérapeutes horticoles afin qu’il y ait un
lien entre l’aménagement et la
thérapie.
Pour aménager des jardins
thérapeutiques remarquables, un
architecte paysagiste doit s’appliquer à
créer un lien entre l’homme et les
plantes, et à tenir compte des
changements qui s’opèrent
inévitablement lors du vieillissement.
Le jardin devrait idéalement permettre
aux aînés de continuer à entretenir un
lien avec le paysage, et ce, malgré la
diminution de leurs capacités
attribuable au vieillissement.
Le lien entre l’homme et les plantes
constitue la boîte à outils de tout
thérapeute. Les textures, les couleurs
et les parfums sont d’excellents
éléments pour faire revivre de vieux
souvenirs. Le simple fait de planter un
bulbe dans un pot à fleurs peut aussi
avoir des effets bénéfiques au plan
thérapeutique et aider les résidants à
développer un sens de maîtrise de leur
cadre de vie. À la longue, ces
expériences peuvent amener les
résidants à nouer des liens plus étroits
avec le jardin, d’où des effets
bénéfiques aux plans physique et
mental. L’auteur cite entre autres deux
études de cas qui illustrent bien le
pouvoir guérisseur du jardin. Un jardin
thérapeutique aménagé avec soin
devrait faire fonction de pont, créant du
même fait un lien entre l’homme et la
nature.
A HORTICULTURAL THERAPIST’S
PERSPECTIVE: WHAT MAKES A GARDEN
SUCCESSFUL?
UNE PERSPECTIVE HORTICO-THÉRAPEUTIQUE

3. Good therapeutic garden design acts as a
bridge, linking the person with the natural
world. The connection between people and
plants is perhaps demonstrated more
effectively by two examples from my files. The
names have been changed and the surrounding
conditions slightly altered to protect the dignity
of each individual’s experiences.
selections of plants. Although the plots are
small and often shared, their therapeutic
value is high. The plots give residents a sense
of control over their environment. Both
courtyard gardens are accessible to
wheelchair residents and the pathways are
accessible to hospital beds.
Plums and pills
W h i l e s e r v i n g d u r i n g Wo r l d Wa r I I ,
Brenda, a nurse, was wounded. She spent
the rest of her adult life in a wheelchair as a
resident of a veteran’s hospital. One day she
took me aside and led me into her room.
S i t t i n g o n h e r b e d wa s a p i l e o f
medications. She pointed outside her
window to a plum tree with its blossoms
just showing and said, “You see those buds?
An hour ago, I was going to swallow those
pills. . . all of them. When I saw the flowers
opening up I decided I want to see another
spring.”
Brenda’s resolve to witness one more
spring was triggered in part through her
involvement with a therapy program in the
garden. The scent of the plum tree brought
Rendering/Rendu : Ryan James
created a sense of “personal” gardens. In one
courtyard garden, we incorporated several
little niches where people can gather to sit in
small groups, hidden from other groups. Each
intimate space is unique, offering different
views and differing colours, textures and
scents. In another courtyard, we offered
residents the opportunity to grow their own
Defining success
By what criteria is a design determined to
be a success? From a therapist’s perspective,
a successful design facilitates the
people/plant connections. The simple act of
potting a bulb can be a therapeutic
experience, which can ultimately lead to a
deeper connection with the garden. Such
experiences can have a profound effect on
physical and mental health.
Fall I Automne 2005 31

4. her outside to the tree, where she sat and
reminisced. The blossoming plum
connected her to her own past.
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LANDSCAPES/PAYSAGES — À PROPOS DES IMAGES
(For an English translation, see page 6.)
Pour prendre des photos éclatantes à l’aide d’un appareil photo numérique, le
scanneriste de Naylor Publications, Dan Dahlin, vous propose ce qui suit :
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• Réglez votre appareil photo! Plusieurs appareils sont réglés à la plus faible résolution
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mode d’emploi.
• La plupart des appareils photo numériques proposent différents réglages
(intérieur/extérieur).
32 LANDSCAPES I PAYSAGES
The last harvest
Jim, a retired prairie farmer living in
an extended-care facility, had suffered a
serious stroke that left him frail, weak
and bedridden. He was not responsive to
any outside stimulus — until his hand
was brushed by a small sheaf of wheat a
former grain farmer gave me.
In short order, Jim had rubbed the
g ra i n s o u t o f t h e h e a d s o f w h e a t ,
readying them to be planted. With tubes
extending in and out of him, he was
b a re l y a b l e t o m ov e. Ye t w i t h
determination, he leaned on his
wheelchair and broadcast the seed into a
ra i s e d b e d i n t h e g a rd e n w i t h a n
awkward twist of his arm.
A lush, tall, large-headed crop grew
from that seed, and matured to a golden
brown. This small crop of wheat gave Jim
an opportunity to retain his sense of selfworth and dignity.
Making connections
B re n d a ’s c o n n e c t i o n t o t h e p l u m
blossoms and Jim’s to the wheat helped
reconnect them to the world around
t h e m . B o t h B re n d a a n d J i m f o u n d
validation of their worth through their
c o n n e c t i o n t o p l a n t s . T h i s i s w hy
t h e ra p e u t i c g a rd e n d e s i g n m u s t g o
b e y o n d a e s t h e t i c s . I t m u s t f o rg e a
connection between people and plants.
This is ultimately the test of a successful
therapeutic landscape design.
■
Paul Allison first became aware of the power of
plants during his education at Cannington
College in Somerset, England. He has recently
completed the Inazo Nitobe Memorial Garden at
the Royal Jubilee Hospital, a healing garden in
Victoria, B.C.
paulcallison@shaw.ca
Richard Kavadas is a social historian
researcher/writer, who enjoys studying the
philosophical, political, psychological and
spiritual relationships between people, plants
and places. An avid gardener/landscaper with
over 40 years’ experience, he is currently
studying ancient agrarian perspectives.