“We started conversations
with Phil, and we soon realized
that there’s a lot more to a healing
garden than just some trees and
plants and flowers – and he was just
exceptional,” Giles said.
“He was truly looking at this as
a healing garden, something that was
going to have elements of solitude
and a place of spirituality,” Elliott
added. “We were very impressed
with his approach and, once we got
the chance to look at his designs,
it was obviously so much more
striking than what any member of
the committee imagined. This was
an eye-popper.”
Goals of the garden
Johnson, a registered landscape
architect who served as Ayres
Associates’ project manager and
designer, said the garden had three
primary objectives: to provide a
calming, reflective environment for
patients and visitors; to make the
hospital entrance more welcoming;
and to offer an outdoor option for
performing physical therapy.
The garden, approximately 136
feet wide by 108 feet long, features
two walks, one made out of colored
concrete and one out of brick pavers.
The space also offers retaining
walls accented by native grasses,
wooden tables, chairs and benches,
a small shelter with rocking chairs,
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a water feature, memorial bricks, a
sculpture, and a selection of shade
trees and annual flowers.
In addition to designing an
aesthetically pleasing garden,
Johnson put careful thought into the
special populations who might be
using the space.
“If you look at it from a
therapeutic benefit perspective,
you have to look at the different
conditions that are typically treated
at this facility,” he said. “For
example, if you have elderly people
that you’re treating – and most
facilities do – you need to be able to
use darker surfaces, less reflective
surfaces.” Darker walking surfaces
anchor the site, he explained, and
colored concrete helps reduce
reflectivity on the eyes.
For Alzheimer’s patients, it’s
important to have color contrasts
and defined spaces. Water is
important, but reflective water
should be avoided because an
Alzheimer’s patient could become
confused or fearful after seeing his
or her reflection.
Johnson also tried to avoid
greenery that would aggravate
common allergies and even
considered possible medications
people could have in their systems
while visiting the garden. For
instance, people on certain
antibiotics need to avoid sunlight,
so Johnson was sure to create spaces
“that are shaded but yet create that
outdoor experience.”
“You can make big mistakes by
not understanding what the impacts
of your design are,” Johnson said.
Consulting hospital staff
Early in the process, Johnson
facilitated information sessions
with hospital staff, allowing them
to share their personal ideas and
preferences. He used the feedback
to create three schematic designs,
which the group viewed and
provided input on at a subsequent
meeting.
“He would explain to people
what the diagrams were, and rather
than having to pick one, he allowed
us to kind of pick the elements we
liked the best,” Giles said. “So it
wasn’t like either/or. It was ‘Well, I
like this about this. I love this about
this.’ And then he took all of those
and came up with his final plan.”
Involving the employees
allowed them to feel a part of the
process, Giles said.
After unveiling the final plan,
the hospital’s Development Office
was ready to start fundraising. Giles
and her staff launched a campaign in
fall 2011, and money was collected
throughout the year via payroll
deductions and one-time donations.
Not everyone was initially
supportive of the project.
Some staff members were
more accustomed to their
donated money going toward
a new piece of equipment or
renovation of a service area .
They couldn’t see supporting
“plants and trees.”
“When we got done, people
were so amazed that I actually
had calls saying, ‘I didn’t
support this, and I was wrong.
This is amazing,’ ” Giles
said. “This so far exceeded
anybody’s expectations. It’s a
gorgeous spot, and it really is a
healing spot.”
Feedback from users
Giles said the garden
is being widely used for
meetings, hospital receptions,
lunch gatherings, or simply for
personal reflection. Someday
the hospital plans to hold Mass
in the garden.
Marlene Luther, an
administrative assistant at
the hospital, eats lunch in the
garden most days during the
summer.
“I think it’s a great spot to
just go have lunch, step away
from the desk for a little while,
and get some fresh air,” said
Luther, who contributed to the
garden’s funding. “Colleagues
seem to be relaxed and calm
when they’re having lunch or
taking their 15-minute breaks.”
She’s seen families and
patients use the space too.
“I just think it’s
wonderful,” she said. “If you’re
a patient or visitor, the healing
garden gives you a place to
get away from the stressful
situation that may be going on
inside. It is truly a place for
healing.”
Garden space brings
renewed life to treatment
facility’s outdoor area
A
fter Ayres Associates helped St. Joseph’s Hospital transform its bare front
lawn into a blooming healing garden, a new idea began to blossom within
hospital staff. Perhaps the clients at the nearby L.E. Phillips-Libertas
Treatment Center (LEP) could benefit from a healing landscape. The change of
scenery might bring much-needed perspective to patients undergoing substance
abuse or mental health treatment, the Colleague Task Force thought.
“As they started talking about the garden at the hospital, what we heard was
that we really need to have a garden at LEP,” said Tom Fuchs, director of the
treatment center. “We heard that not only from the LEP colleagues but also from
the hospital colleagues who said, ‘You know, that’s a place that really needs
healing.’ LEP works with a lot of broken people, a lot of broken families, a lot of
broken lives.”
The hospital retained Ayres Associates to design the garden at the treatment
center, located in a separate facility adjacent to the hospital. The hospital’s
Development Office spearheaded a second campaign, and plans for another
garden quickly took root.
Again using hospital employee input, Ayres Associates’ landscape architect
Phil Johnson designed a 100-foot-wide-by-70-foot-long garden space that leads to
several acres. Once a simple lawn area, it now includes a labyrinth, quarter-mile
walking path, bench swing, shelter and bridge over a pond, wood fencing, disc
golf course, moon gate, and more. Johnson said he considers the moon gate – a
circular structure that acts as a passageway to the labyrinth, walking path, and
disc golf course – to be “unique as a focal point.”
“We use that to kind of bring people from one space to the other,” Johnson
said.
The additions replace a largely vacant outdoor break space that offered little
more than a concrete picnic bench and rarely used volleyball and basketball
courts. The design plans were completed in summer 2011, and construction began
in 2012. Construction was largely completed in 2012, with a dedication and
blessing event held on Sept. 8, 2012.
Feedback has been “remarkable,” Fuchs said. Patients, families, and staff are
using it. He has even seen outpatient counselors conduct sessions with clients
while walking on the trail. “We’re just thrilled with it. It’s been an inviting,
welcoming addition,” he said.
“I see what used to be one family out at a concrete picnic table really kind
of in some deep emotional stress. … I now see them walking around, and their
children are smelling the flowers,” he said. “It’s just a more engaging environment
out there. It’s not a big mud hole. It’s a beautiful facility, and it’s part of the
facility.”
Fuchs noted that the improvements were long overdue because the exterior
of the building had been unchanged since 1976. “It makes good sense to have
an exterior environment that matches your interior environment,” he said. “If
you think about recovery, it’s about transitioning your exterior environment and
reconciling that with your interior environment. It’s about work on the inside and
the outside.”
Bobbi Giles, director of development at St. Joseph’s Hospital, said the
gardens “have been a terrific addition for both places.”
“They have given the whole hospital a face-lift,” she said.
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