Built Works

Nature and Well-Being: Lecture series at the Bloedel Reserve

Reflecting pool, Bloedel Reserve. Photo by Henry Domke, http://henrydomke.com

Reflecting pool, Bloedel Reserve. Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

During June, Puget Sound’s Bloedel Reserve will put the spotlight on nature and well-being by hosting a series of lectures. Throughout the month, experts from diverse disciplines will explore the unique  relationship between nature and humans, and the healing and therapeutic qualities of landscapes and gardens.

Our founder Prentice Bloedel was fascinated with the relationship between people and plants, often writing eloquently on the subject, as he designed the gardens and landscapes of The Reserve. In June, we are bringing together experts from many disciplines to explore the unique relationship between nature and humans, and the healing and therapeutic qualities of landscapes and gardens.

The Bloedel Reserve is a public treasure that sits on 150 acres of natural woodlands and landscaped gardens just a short ferry ride away from downtown Seattle. In addition to interconnected paths, a Japanese garden, a moss garden, and a reflection pool, visitors will find the Bloedel’s former estate home. The Reserve was created by Prentice and Virginia Bloedel who resided on the property from 1951 until 1986. A man ahead of his time, Prentice Bloedel had an abiding interest in the relationship between people and the natural world. The primary mission of The Reserve is to provide a tranquil, restorative and emotionally evocative experience of nature.

See this past Guest TLN Blog Post by Sally Schauman for more on The Bloedel Reserve as a Therapeutic Landscape.

For more information on this month’s Lecture Series, visit The Bloedel Reserve web site.  Summer hours are extended for June, July and August: Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am-4pm; Thursday through Sunday, 10am-7pm. A short description of the lecture series follow. For a complete description of the talks and other classes at The Reserve, see the summer bulletin. To register for all the lectures that range from $10 to $15 per session, call 206-842-7631, or click on the Brown Paper Tickets.

The Bloedel Reserve Lecture Series for June is as follows:

Friday, June 8 at 4:30pm
Every Step a Healing Step (lecture & guided meditative walk)
Carolyn Scott Kortge, author, The Spirited Walker & Healing Walks for Hard Times

Sunday, June 10 at 2:00pm
The Restorative Power of Plants
Patty Cassidy, RHT, Horticultural Therapist & Gardener for Legacy Health Systems, Portland

Wednesday, June 13 at 10:00am
Healing Garden Designs
Daniel Winterbottom, RLA, FASLA, professor, Landscape Architecture, University of Washington

Thursday, June 14 at 2:00pm
Landscaping for Privacy: Innovative Ways to Turn Your Outdoor Space into a Peaceful Retreat
Marty Wingate, author & garden designer

Saturday, June 16 at 4:30pm
Therapeutic Design Adaptations for the Home Garden
Mark Epstein, registered landscape architect

Sunday, June 17 at 4:30pm
Art in Nature: The Therapeutic Effects of Nature Photography-A Personal Story
Charles Needle, photographer

Tuesday, June 19 at 10:00am
Leave No Child Inside: Reconnecting Children with Nature
Martin LeBlanc, founder, Children & Nature Network; Sr. VP, Islandwood

Friday, June 29 at 7:30pm
“Echoes of Creation” (Video screening & talk)
Jan Nickman, film & television director & cinematographer

Saturday, June 30 at 3:00pm
Restoration & Celebration — The Created World Around Us (lecture & guided meditative walk)
Christie Lynk, professor of psychology, Seattle University

Community Engagement & the Built Environment conference

Head Start Preschool, Seattle, WA                    Photo by Filiz Satir

Head Start Preschool Play Yard, Seattle, WA. Photo by Filiz Satir

Community Built Association Conference: May 30-June 2, 2012

The Community Built Association (CBA) will hold its annual conference in Portland, OR, May 30 – June 2. The interdisciplinary gathering is open to all those interested in community engagement through the lenses of art, play, nature, and the built environment.  The conference features presentations and panel discussions related to play environments, gardens and green spaces, public art, and community-engaged architecture. The conference at Portland’s Tabor Space, 5441 S.E. Belmont Street will  include:

  • Presentations and discussions from leaders in the field of community-based practice;
  • Hands-on workshops that will engage participants’ creativity while they contribute something of lasting value to the local community;
  • Tours of local “place-making” sites around Portland, where volunteers have shaped community spaces with their own hands over time; and
  • Informal networking and sharing sessions with inspirational community builders from Portland and around the country.

Artists, architects, builders, organizers, gardeners, planners, and others are all welcome. To learn more and register for the conference, visit the CBA Web site: http://communitybuilt.org/conference/portland_2012.

 

Portland Memory Garden celebrates 10 years

Wild ginger and ferns. Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

Portland Memory Garden Founders Day Weekend, June 2-3, 2012

In celebration of the Portland Memory Garden’s 10-year Anniversary, the Friends of the Portland Memory Garden will sponsor an educational panel discussion at Good Samaritan Hospital, Saturday, June 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  Susan Rodiek, Associate Director of the Center for Health Systems & Design at Texas A&M University, will present the keynote address.

The Friends also plan a “garden” open house, June 3, noon to 3 p.m. The event will include guided tours, free nature crafts, music, and refreshments. The seminar and garden celebration are open to the public, though registration is required for the Saturday seminar. All seminar proceeds will go to support annual maintenance of the Portland  Memory Garden, located off S.E. Powell at 104th Avenue in Ed Benedict Park.

The garden is designed to meet the special needs of those with memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, and to provide respite for their caregivers. The garden is one of eight “memory gardens” in the U.S., and one of only two built on public land.

For more information contact Brian Bainnson at 503-256-8955 or visit www.portlandmemorygarden.org/PMG/Events.

Recruiting Garden Volunteers: If you’d like to get your hands dirty in the Memory Garden they have two teams that meet on the first and third Saturday of every month, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Contact Patty Cassidy (1st Saturday) 503-239-9174 and Julie Brown (3rd Saturday) 503-367-5188.

Design & Health Australasia 2012 Symposium

Photo by Henry Domke, http://henrydomke.com

Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

Design & Health Australasia 2012
March 28-29, 2012
Sydney, Australia
Details here: www.events.designandhealth.com/events/australasia

This conference is through the International Academy for Design and Health

See their events page on their website for upcoming symposia in Europe (9/20-21) and Africa (November) as well as their Design & Health 8th World Congress and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (6/27-7/1).

The health status of people living in Australasia is one of the highest in the world, with rising life expectancies, and falling mortality and morbidity rates. At the same time, however, the region is facing similar challenges to the rest of the developed world, characterised by rising costs pressures, an ageing population and a rise in the level of lifestyle diseases, most notably diabetes and obesity. In addition, Australasia faces the challenge of addressing the inequities in health outcomes of its poorer socio-economic groups, in particular its indigenous population and those living in more remote and rural areas. In recognition that a healthy population is the foundation for social development and economic growth, health reform in Australasia is undergoing a policy shift that is recognising the need to redesign its health systems to embrace health promotion and embed a preventative approach based on better education, evidence and research.

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Register now for January EPA Webinar on wellness and sustainable practices for stormwater management

Wetland pond at Medical Center of the Rockies. Images courtesy of BHA Design.

Wetland pond at Medical Center of the Rockies. Images courtesy of BHA Design.

This EPA Webinar will be of interest to our members:

“Connecting Wellness & Environmental Health: Rain Gardens & Other Sustainable Landscaping Practices for Stormwater Management”

1/12/12, 12-2 EST
Register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/577828378

Hospitals have a unique opportunity to connect patients and staff to nature through healing gardens. Learn how hospitals are designing their gardens to also manage stormwater. This webinar will give an overview of sustainable landscaping practices with a focus on rain gardens. Speakers will share their experiences of two New England hospital’s work in this area. Participants will learn how connecting wellness and environmental health can also help to satisfy other goals including stormwater compliance, LEED, aesthetics and community relations.

It’s exciting that the EPA has organized this webinar; I’ve registered and am looking forward to it.

 

A Masters thesis on Healing Gardens for Veterans with PTSD

Image courtesy of Care2.com

Image courtesy of Care2.com

It’s Veteran’s Day, 2011, a good time to highlight some new research on gardens for veterans with PTSD. This is such an important topic, and Brock Anderson decided to make it his Thesis for his Master of Landscape Architecture at Utah State University.

“An Exploration of the Potential Benefits of Healing Gardens on Veterans with PTSD,” by Brock Anderson, is now availalble online for download at http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports/50/.

Here’s the Abstract:

Healing gardens are places that facilitate in improving or restoring an individual’s mental or physical health. Today, therapeutic landscape design is a growing facet of landscape architecture. This study looks at the potential benefits of using healing gardens in addition to traditional methods of treatment for veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

A reasonable amount of research has been done into the area of therapeutic landscapes and their influence on certain populations, but the potential positive effects these healing gardensmay hold for veterans suffering from PTSD seems to be unidentified. This study examines the history of healing gardens, problems facing veteran populations today, current treatment methods for PTSD, and how healing gardens could be beneficial to veterans with PTSD. A Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare facility that is in the process of implementing a healing garden was usedto determine how their PTSD patients will potentially use a healing garden space during treatment.

The purpose of this study was to describe some of the potential benefits that healing gardens could have on veterans suffering from PTSD. Other VA facilities can use this information in the future when implementing healing gardens for PTSD patients. This study is intended to increase awareness of the potential benefits healing gardens might hold for veterans suffering from PTSD and encourage further research into the area.

Recommended citation: Anderson, Brock Justin, “An Exploration of the Potential Benefits of Healing Gardens on Veterans with PTSD” (2011). All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects. Paper 50. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports/50

Many thanks to Brock for sharing this with us!

And if that weren’t enough great stuff for one day, here’s an excellent article by Janet Brown, published recently in Healthcare Design Magazine, about a wonderful healing garden and horticultural therapy program at the East Orange NJ Veterans Affairs: http://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/article/va-campus-takes-healing-gardens.

Therapeutic Gardens in San Diego – Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital

Sharp Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital, Don Allen Memorial Garden. Photo by Naomi Sachs

Bridge over koi pond in the Don Allen Memorial Garden, Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital.

Our second stop on the “meeting before the meeting” tour of gardens at healthcare facilities in the San Diego area (with the ASLA Healthcare and Therapeutic Design Professional Practice Network, organized by Chris Garcia)  was the Don Allen Memorial Courtyard at the Sharp Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital. The garden was designed by Schmidt Design Group and was built in 2010.

Don Allen Memorial Garden, Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital, San Diego, CA.

Don Allen Memorial Garden, Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital, San Diego, CA.

This courtyard garden serves the part of the hospital devoted to substance abuse patients. I believe that some are in- and some are out-patients, but don’t quote me on that.

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Therapeutic Gardens in San Diego – San Diego Hospice

San Diego Hospice, pergola at entrance. Photo by Naomi Sachs

San Diego Hospice, pergola at entrance. Photo by Naomi Sachs

Before the official start of the ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) conference last week, I had the good fortune of attending a “meeting before the meeting” tour of several gardens at healthcare facilities in the San Diego area with the ASLA Healthcare and Therapeutic Design Professional Practice Network. Chris Garcia did an amazing job of planning the tour and coordinating the entire day. Kudos to Chris and to all of the good people who opened their doors and let us tromp through their facilities, asking millions of questions and taking lots of pictures.

In the next couple of blog posts, I’ll share some impressions and photos from our tour, in chronological order of what we visited.

San Diego Hospice, resident rooms with balconies. Photo by Naomi Sachs

No, this is not a luxury hotel, these are the rooms, w/ balconies, at the San Diego Hospice. Photo by Naomi Sachs

San Diego Hospice

Garden type: Hospice “tribute garden”
Designers: Wimmer, Yamada and Caughey
Built: 2000
Visiting: As this is a hospice, you should definitely call first if you’d like to visit.

The following is an excerpt from the article “Hospital Gardens That Help Heal,” by E’Louise Ondash, RN

Peggy Lee, RN, a staff nurse for 15 years at the Inpatient Care Center at San Diego Hospice, has no doubt that its Tribute Garden serves as a place where patients, families and staff can rest and renew.

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Garden = Life

Ulfelder Healing Garden, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. Photo by Naomi Sachs

Ulfelder Healing Garden, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. Photo by Naomi Sachs

On my visit to one of three healing gardens last week in Boston, I waited in the hospital lobby for someone from administration to meet me. A pajama-clad man, connected through various tubes to an IV pole, ambled slowly by, his expression a combination of concentration and resignation. Someone grimaced while maneuvering, with difficulty, a wheelchair bearing the profound weight of an obese middle-aged woman. Doctors and interns in their scrubs and stethoscopes whisked quickly through the space to whatever important task awaited them.

And it dawned on me (not that this hasn’t occurred to me before, but there was something different, perhaps more immediate or visceral, this time): As much as hospitals are places for birth and healing, they are also inherently places of pain, sickness, and death. Most people begin their lives and bring forth new life in the hospital, and that is a wonderful thing. But other than that, we don’t really want to be there. Hospitals are where sick and injured people go to be healed, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Thus, they are places that elicit uncertainty, fear, and sadness.

And the environment itself, designed to be clean and efficient, is therefore sterile, intimidating, and alienating. It is so far from what most of us experience in our day-to-day lives.

And then there’s the garden. If you’re lucky, your hospital has a garden. And if it’s a good one, it’s an antidote, a life-affirming oasis, a desperately needed contrast to the strange machines, shiny surfaces, alien sounds, and assaulting smells. Gardens are about life. They contain green, living things; fresh air; birds; water. There is death in the garden, too, of course; plants don’t live forever. But somehow, even their death feels more natural, more just part of the cycle of life rather than a startling and traumatic interruption. And often even when plants look like they have died, we know that they have simply gone dormant: Autumn comes, leaves turn color and fall to the ground, and everything goes into hibernation. Then spring arrives and, as if by some miracle, green shoots emerge from the earth, from buds and branches. And the cycle begins again.

There is so much hope and promise in a garden. As Maude tells Harold in my all-time favorite movie, ‘Harold and Maude’:

“I like to watch things grow. They grow, and bloom, and fade, and die, and change into something else. Ah, life!”

Here’s a clip that includes that scene and the daisy scene, which comes right after: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4-xMPTduds&feature=related.

The biologist E.O. Wilson termed our affinity to nature “biophilia” – an innate attraction to life and living things.

So that was my realization. Without going into a zillion caveats, which I’m usually wont to do: Hospital = pain and sickness, and sometimes death. Garden = respite and life and hope.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday, 7/13/11 – Fountain ripples

Fountain at Ulfelder Healing Garden, Massachusetts General Hospital

Fountain at Ulfelder Healing Garden, Massachusetts General Hospital

I had the good fortune to be able to visit the Ulfelder Garden at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston last week while attending the Design & Health World Congress. Stay tuned for a blog post with images and description of the garden. In the meantime, here’s an interesting article, from The Holistic Oncologist, about an evaluation of the garden based on guest book comments.

And here are some of the comments from the guest book on the day of my visit:

“Thank you to all the physicians that took care of my treatment this last day of treatment, 6/17 – this garden is ideal!”

“Thank you for this miracle garden.”

“Peace in the garden.”

“This is truly a healing garden.”