The therapeutic garden at Banfield Pavilion is much more than a garden.
Rather, it’s a place of healing that’s shown its power to help elderly residents live happier, healthier and more meaningful lives.
How it started
Established under the guidance of VCH horticultural activity worker Shelagh Smith, the Banfield therapeutic garden is one of a handful of such gardens located at Vancouver General Hospital, in Richmond and on the North Shore.
Banfield’s garden is poised to become one of the health care facility’s better known, thanks to its inclusion in a soon-to-be-published book by UC Berkeley Landscape Architect Professor Clare Cooper Marcus and Naomi Sachs about the power of these often pocket-sized green spaces to be restorative and therapeutic for patients, residents and staff.
Hands-on gardening experience In Cooper Martin’s own words, the garden is “a quiet rooftop oasis where residents, their families and friends can meet and relax in a green restorative setting. [Shelagh’s] horticultural therapy program enables residents to have hands-on experience of gardening, and to reconnect with the earth and the world of nature. This space and her programs enrich the lives of the residents in countless ways.”
The 3,000 square-foot rooftop garden is filled with flowers, vegetables, a fig tree, raspberry and blueberry bushes. It’s a place where people can gather in groups or just sit by themselves and enjoy the outdoors.
Improved well-being“Spending time in nature is an evidence-based health care practice,” said Smith, who oversees the twice weekly gardening group at the residential care facility. “Gardens in health care facilities are an inexpensive way to improve people’s health.”
For Stewart Shearer, 87, the garden is a place where he can actively cultivate the foods that bring a sense of home to an otherwise institutional space. As Banfield’s resident tomato expert, Shearer’s cluster of wooden tubs filled with tomato plants means he can have access to his favourite seasonal treat.
“I know people say they’re a fruit, but I still say they’re a vegetable,” he said. “Whatever they are, I love them.”