Happiness blooms in therapy garden
Friday, June 29, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
The therapy garden at Frost Manor recently opened for this year’s season and residents at the Lindsay long-term care home are making the most of it, says life enrichment co-ordinator Vi O’Leary.

In the three years since it first opened, the therapy garden has proven to be beneficial to the home’s residents, says O’Leary. Among other features, the garden has a gazebo, bird feeders and a vegetable garden with cucumbers and tomatoes.

The most noticeable feature, however, is the garden’s plants, which include morning glories, lilies and impatience flowers. Additionally, there are 30 perennials which were donated to Frost Manor by a friend of Joy Brittain, the home’s environmental services manager.

O’Leary says it’s called a therapy garden because of the impact it has on the senses.

“It’s therapeutic to touch and to smell and to see,” she says. “You’re free to go out there and relax and visit people and reminisce.”

O’Leary says residents enjoy sitting outside in the peaceful, tranquil setting the garden provides. She adds the garden also serves to enhance cognitive skills in residents.

“It’s good for cognitive (functions) because reminiscing (acts) as a trigger.”

While the main purpose of the garden is to provide residents and their families with a scenic view and a relaxing environment, there is also a financial benefit to the garden from the home’s point of view, says O’Leary.

Before the garden was ready to be opened, activity staff took residents out to a park for recreation. This meant having to get the van to shuffle everyone back and forth, which costs money in fuel.

Since the residents now have a park-like atmosphere in their backyard, there is no longer the need to take them distances to experience some green space.

“It’s a real bonus for us,” says O’Leary.

O’Leary says residents “take ownership” of the garden, with some residents taking exceptional pride to make sure the plants and vegetables are well-kept.

“One lady is very protective of the tomatoes,” chuckles O’Leary.