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HEALING GARDENS

Pond keepers know that water can act as a powerful elixir, enveloping the senses in nature and cutting through the chaos of the modern world.  Now, many hospitals and public gardens are harnessing and amplifying those powers, turning art into science.  Discover common elements of these healing "therapy" gardens and turn your backyard feature into the cure for what ails you.  Phoenix Children's Hospital in Phoenix now has two ponds gracing their atria, one of which is the focal point around which a garden railroad makes its loop.  Both entertaining and peaceful, these features have become a focal point for the children, the parents, and the staff.

"Water has definitely been found to have relaxing proper­ties," says Naomi Sachs, executive director of the Therapeutic Landscapes Resource Center in Beacon, N.Y.  "It's one of those primordial reactions that we have. People respond well to water in so many different forms."  Sachs founded her nonprofit resource center in 1999 as a tool for landscape architects and designers who install features for institutions, such as hospitals, and individuals seeking better health through a connection with the outdoors.  Water, Sachs says, is a natural fit with the therapy gardens that she and her colleagues design. It holds universal appeal to captivate the mind and bring peace, like few things can in a hectic, modern society.  "The sound of splashing water, the sight of moving water, brings a sense of calm," Says Bruce Zaretsky, president of Zaretsky and Associates in Macedon, N.Y.  "Staring at a water­fall is no different than staring at a fireplace, where your thoughts recede into the background and you're almost meditating, looking at and listening to it."

Peace of mind is a valuable commodity.  Amanda Brown, executive vice president and administrator of Kirkhaven, a skilled nursing and transitional care facility in Rochester, N.Y., often encounters patients with Alzheimer's disease.  Thanks to the powers of the soothing water feature installed by Zaretsky, she has a valuable tool in her arsenal.  "Water features in any environment, especially in our setting, with people who have dementia and agitation, are so calming," Brown says. "It's something to focus on. For people with dementia, to watch something repetitive or focus on something is really important."

Science has yet to discover exactly how moving water decreases life's craziness, but the growing numbers of believers, like Brown, are beginning to see the light and the peace that these features can offer.  The secret might have more to do with intuition and less with real science.  Water can connect us to our humanity and allows us to let go of life's annoyances, if only for a moment.  "There's something very relaxing about water.  Even if you have a still pond without movement, there is just that feeling of serenity," says Linda Wiggen Kraft, owner of Gardens for the Soul in St. Louis.  "Water is often an element that is associated with emotions.  I think it does help us get in touch with our emotions, especially those which comfort us."

So how do hospitals and others magnify water's restorative effects?  With a few basic elements of design, you can bring those effects into your own environment.  Start by figuring out what about your current environment is not relaxing or causes distraction.  Get to the root of what's coming between you and the maximum enjoyment of the garden that you love.  For example, if you have a loud neighbor, maybe it's time to install a waterfall that will help mask the sound of them gabbing.  If your lawn is holding you captive and working your fingers to the bone every weekend, maybe it's time to replace it with a low maintenance natural water garden.  Once any potential annoyances are resolved, evaluate your environment based on four criteria that many therapy garden designers use on the job.

Dr. Roger Ulrich at Texas A&M identified four things that reduce stress in healthcare patients.  These are the things we strive to provide in therapeutic gardens:

• Access to nature
• Control
• Social interaction
• Exercise

Water features provide one or more of those benefits to people.

Other design elements of a therapy garden might be less concrete and more difficult to pinpoint.  Leaf through magazines and books to see what appeals to you, what makes you feel better.  A therapeutic design comes largely from gut instinct. Find what grabs your attention, and make it a part of the garden space.  Bring special objects with attached feelings into the environment.  If you have some sort of spiritual practice, or even a special rock that someone gave you that reminds you of when you were on vacation and were relaxed, take something to the garden that is a symbol of something important.  It can be anything from a Buddha statue, a St. Francis statue, a rock, a candle, incense or an area for yoga ... it allows you to expand your practice.  Enclosing the space to make it feel more intimate also helps create a more restful, therapeutic outdoor environment.  Provide shade and seating near a water feature.  Overhead structures in the garden help create outdoor rooms, along with landmarks and gateways.  On the other hand, open areas are places for the spirit to soar.

In addition, make sure that a late night at the office doesn't spoil the relaxing benefits that you've worked so hard to achieve.  Lighting is a necessity, because it allows you to enjoy it at night and it's a very dramatic effect.  Staring at a beautiful lighting project is another way to lower stress levels, not to mention add romance to your surroundings.

Plants bring in wildlife -- another powerful tool in the stress-relief battle. Choose varieties that will bring the wilderness to your own patch of paradise.  Things that attract beneficial insects, ladybugs, butterflies, hum­mingbirds, even small mammals are shown to have a beneficial effect on people who like to watch wildlife.  When people connect with nature, something magical happens.  That sense of getting back to nature and getting people in touch with their greater surroundings is important.  It's a distraction from the worries of everyday life. It's something that can refocus you on something more positive.

Putting time and effort into a therapeutic environment won't make your troubles disappear automatically.  You've got to actually spend time in it.  Most people don't feel that they spend enough time in their gardens.  To facilitate more time outdoors, set up some sort of seating arrangement — a chair, boulder, bench or grassy spot.  If you walk through a prairie or a forest, nature becomes quiet and stops and lets people through.  It actually takes 20 minutes for things to come back to the way they were before a human being had come through that space.  Thoughtful contemplation is the final ingredient for any successful therapy garden.  Without focused attention, these gardens lose their potency to cure.  In locations like hospitals where ill patients have a lot of thinking to do, gardens like these can make a big difference.   At the University of California San Francisco Center for Excellence in Women's Health, a garden and water feature provide a much-needed escape from an intensely emotional world of serious medicine.  "The garden was placed in this building for a calm and safe place for our patients coping with life-threatening illnesses," says Cynthia Perils, director of University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center's Art For Recovery program in San Francisco.  "It is used by patients, visitors and staff to relax, meditate and process their feelings." 

Environments like these stand as examples of what can be accomplished through the power of therapeutic gardening.  They offer lessons that can be applied by anyone seeking refuge through the solace created by the sound of moving water.