Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center is creating a healing environment that extends beyond its doors. A healing garden was begun near the main entrance to the hospital when it opened in 2008. Now it is blossoming with the help of master gardener Svata Louda and a committee of volunteers.
“We saw an opportunity for the front of the hospital to become both a showcase and a place of solace and solitude that could offer comfort to patients and visitors alike,” said Barb Abel, the hospital’s vice president of human resources. “The healing garden was not growing and developing as we had envisioned, so we engaged master gardener Svata Louda through the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension office.”
Master Gardener Svata Louda
An ecologist and professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska, Louda suggested incorporating elements traditionally found in healing gardens. She worked with HRRMC’s administration and a design committee, which included master gardeners Jean Wright and Cheryl Rauschke and builder/designer John Graham, to develop a more expansive vision for the garden.
Louda and her committee envision a garden that integrates peaceful, personal spaces into the design. They recommend adding arbors, benches, boulders, berms, taller plants and a defining border to the existing garden to screen off smaller, more private areas. Taller shrubs and ornamental grasses along with the berms will add height and visual interest to the garden as well.
To make the garden cooler and more welcoming, the plans call for adding trees and pergolas with associated seating. A channel “streamlet” for occasional water overflow is proposed to make use of rainwater and snow melt from the hospital roof. Plants that can withstand this intermittent, but heavy water flow will be planted in this eco-friendly area.
The new design features a more organic approach, with plantings clustered naturally rather than geometrically. Existing plants will be replanted in new groupings and softer, earth-toned mulch will replace some of the rock mulch. This softer mulch brings the added benefit of allowing water to penetrate more easily to allow for plant growth.
Work has begun on the first phase of the redesign. The rock mulch has been removed and healthy plants temporarily moved until their permanent space is available. Underground electricity is being installed to support a fountain and accent lighting. The streamlet channel is being dug to accept the occasional roof run-off.
HRRMC has hired landscape architect Tom Sullivan to create working drawings and conceptual images of the new garden vision. This winter the hospital will begin purchasing the materials that will help transform the garden.
In the spring, a committee of 15 master gardeners and friends will work with Louda to continue with plant selection, placement and cultivation. As the healing garden grows, it will invite visitors, patients and hospital employees to spend some quiet time outdoors.
The healing garden is a multi-year project, with development continuing as funds become available. The HRRMC Foundation is offering special features of the garden as naming opportunities for interested donors. In addition, general donations to the project will be tastefully acknowledged within the garden elements.
The HRRMC Foundation is also selling memorial bricks for the garden inscribed with a name or sentiment that pays tribute to loved ones. These bricks add to the sense of reflection created by the garden. For more information on how to purchase a brick, or on potential naming opportunities, please contact the HRRMC Foundation at 530-2218.
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