Happy New Year!

Image courtesy Henry Domke Fine Art

Happy New Year, everyone! Here's to a healthy, peaceful, and joyous 2009.

Land8Lounge: New social networking site for LAs

"Royal Terns on the Beach," courtesy Henry Domke Fine Art

O.K., so it's a bit of a strange name, but for all you landscape architects and designers and others interested in the subject, there's a new social networking site called Land8Lounge. So far, I like it much better than some of the other personal and professional social networking sites (like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn). I've started a group on there called the Therapeutic Landscapes Network 4Land8Lounge. So far we've got members from China, England, Portugal, United Arab Emirates, and the U.S. Please join us, and jump into the conversation! 

And I haven't forgotten about the continuation of the whole natural light discussion - just been a bit preoccupied lately with the holidays. 

Gardening Leave - one great answer to PTSD

Image courtesy Gardening Leave

It's Christmas Eve, and no matter what your political views are, you have to admit: It's awful for servicemen and women stuck overseas and separated from their families, especially during the holidays. That old WWII song "I'll be home for Christmas" still carries a lot of weight. And unfortunately, the trauma doesn't stop once people are discharged. Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are experiencing high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. In the U.S., our VA system is not at all well equipped to deal with the problem. Horticultural and animal-assisted therapy have both been found to be very helpful for people with PTSD, and in Scotland, one charity is addressing the issue in a very thoughtful and pragmatic way.

Gardening Leave oversees "horticultural therapy projects for ex-Servicemen and women growing fruit and vegetables in walled gardens which will provide a peaceful, unpressurised environment where veterans can participate as much or as little as they choose in the life cycle of the kitchen garden."

Pretty cool, huh? Check out their website for more information, images, and videos: www.gardeningleave.org. If anyone knows of something similar in the U.S. or elsewhere, please leave a comment and let me know!

Happy, peaceful, safe, and joyous holidays!

The need for natural light, part II (and to be continued)

In researching for this blog posting on the need for natural light, I've uncovered so much good information that I wouldn't be able to do the subject justice to try to write about it today, when I'm crunched for time. So, stay tuned while I do a little more digging and collecting thoughts. 

In the meantime, the best all-around article I've found so far is "A Review of the Research Literature on Evidence-Based Healthcare Design" by Roger S. Ulrich, Craig Zimring, Xuemie Zhu, Jennifer DuBose, Hyun-Bo Seo, Young-Seon Choi, Xiaobo Quan, and Anjali Joseph, published in the Spring 2008 issue of Health Environments Resarch & Design Journal, a quarterly journal published by the Center for Health Design and Vendome Group (Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 61-125). This article (and the journal in general) is a must-read/have for anyone interested in Evidence-Based Design in healthcare. For subscription information, contact www.herdjournal.com.

Winter Solstice (and the need for natural light, part I)

Today is the winter solstice, and this weekend we got blasted with two snowstorms in a row. Winter has definitely arrived! I love the snow, and am delighted (especially since I don't have to drive anywhere) with the winter-wonderland effect. White Christmas and all that. Almost everything looks better to me with a good dollop of the stuff. 

The only problem with snowstorms is that it tends to be cloudy when we have them. A cloudy winter solstice - already the shortest day of the year - even with the snow falling, can get rather gloomy. So I was happy just now when the storm ended and the sun broke through. I ran outside with my camera into the glittering, glowing whiteness of it all. Just what the doctor ordered: A little exercise, a little vitamin D, a little time appreciating nature close-up, cold fingers and all. 

Remember that post about seedheads? Now I can finally illustrate how beautiful they look (goldenrod, above). 

But I also got to thinking about the importance of light. Plants need light to photosynthesize; humans need light, too, and more research than ever is showing that natural light exceeds artificial when it comes to making us feel good. This means that buildings should be designed for their inhabitants to have as much natural light as possible. On this lovely winter solstice afternoon (and erev Channukah), it's 4:00, the sun is setting, and it's almost time to go inside and light the menorah. So stay tuned for tomorrow, when I'll delve deeper into the research on natural light and the implications for therapeutic landscapes.

New study on landscape preferences

Image courtesy Henry Domke Fine Art

Complexity, openness, and water. According to a 2007 study by Ke-Tsung Han, these are three of the most preferred physical landscape characteristics.* 

One of the questions designers of therapeutic landscapes grapple with is what kind of landscape will elicit the best outcomes for our clients. Even before we think about plant material, we have to decide how the space should be organized. Should it feel open or enclosed? Have a sense of mystery or be instantly "legible" to the user? And then how much plant material to use, and how to use it. To some extent, the answers are dependent on your intended user and on the space you have to work with. Unfortunately, for those who like to design spaces based on research (this is called Evidence-Based Design, or EBD), there's not a whole lot out there for us to go on. One thing we know for sure: the majority of people, especially in a healthcare setting, prefer a high ratio of green, or "softscape," to hardscape (paving, walls, etc.). Therefore, the more we can use plant material (rather than hardscape) to create space, the better; and the lusher that environment is, the more restorative it will feel. We have also seen a fair amount of evidence that people like and respond well to landscapes with water. 

This week InformeDesign, one of the best resources for EBD-oriented designers, summarizes a study about such preferences. It's a great addition to a growing body of research. Click HERE to read the summary, or contact Environment and Behavior directly for the full article. Next, I'd love to see this study repeated with different populations (people of different ages, ethnic backgrounds, countries, etc.), and measured for actual outcomes rather than restorative potential.  

*Han, Ke-Tsung (2007). "Responses to Six Major Terrestrial Biomes in Terms of Scenic Beauty, Preference, and Restorativeness," Environment and Behavior, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 529-556.

Note: The above image was not one used in the study, but I think it illustrates the three physical characteristics of complexity, openness, and water.

Comic relief

It's the holidays, the economy's tanking, your shopping isn't done, you've eaten too much sugar and drunk too much at the office party, the days are about as short as they can get (until the 21st - then they start getting longer again!), it's cold and miserable outside...time for a little retail therapy, or at least some comic relief.

Om Gnomes to the rescue! I stumbled across these hilarious transmogrifications and just had to share: Classic garden gnome + classic buddha statue = Zen and Yogi Om Gnomes. Created by Portland artist Steve Herrington, these irreverent little statues are available on the Simple Family Living website: www.simplefamilyliving.com. 

Who says the healing garden has to be a quiet, meditative sanctuary all the time? A little humor can go a long way. 

Symposium on Healing Gardens in Senior Communities

Image courtesy Henry Domke Fine Art

Another symposium in the spring that looks great: "Healing Gardens: The Power and Practice of Nature in Senior Communities." Thursday, April 23 at Medford Leas Continuing Care Retirement Community in Medford, New Jersey.

"Engaging older adults in horticultural activities, therapeutic gardens, and sensitively designed landscapes fosters a sense of well-being, promotes healing and adds value for residents. At this one-day workshop held on the Medford Campus, attendees will learn first-hand strategies for promoting the power of nature to advance wellness in senior communities."

For more information and to register, click HERE to go to the Medford Leas website and then scroll down. Thanks, Jack Carman of Design for Generations for sending the announcement!

Environments for Aging .09 Conference

 Henry Domke Fine Art

Oh, this is going to be a good one. Registration is open for the annual Environments for Aging conference (early registration ends January 15th), to be held next March 29-31 in Boston, MA. 

I've been looking over the program, and it's so full of interesting-looking educational sessions, it's going to be hard to choose which to attend for each time block. Here are three that piqued my interest right away: "Natural Spaces for Memory Support - A Closer Look at Dementia Gardens;" "Walking for Healthy Aging: Designing Communities to Support Walking Among Independent and Assisted Living Residents;" and "Healthy Outdoor Environments for the Aging." Plus facilities tours, design awards, and other conference-y fare. Sounds good, no?

Have a conference or an event you think should be publicized? Leave a comment and I'll post the information. That's what the TLRC (Therapeutic Landscapes Resource Center) is for.

Environments for Aging .09 - conference teaser

Stefanie enjoying her raised planter bed at her CCRC

But enough about kids. Let's talk about the other end of the life spectrum: Our elders. There's my great-aunt Stefanie, above, next to the raised flower bed at her CCRC (continuing care retirement community) in Stone Mountain, GA. Stefanie did not want to leave her home, especially her garden, where she had lived for over four decades. When she reached her late 80s, however, Stefanie - being the pragmatic person she is - found a CCRC in her beloved Atlanta that seemed like a good place to live out the rest of her years. She purchased an apartment at Park Springs, right next to Stone Mountain Park, and moved in a few years ago. The residents are free to use the park, including miles of hiking trails and golf facilities. For those who don't want to venture quite so far, the 1/4- mile loop around the pond, below, is fully ADA-compliant. My great-aunt, now in her nineties, walks the loop four times on her daily mile-long constitutional. The grounds, while a bit manicured for my taste, are beautifully landscaped with plantings that offer year-round interest. A small wild area provides habitat for birds and other wildlife, and the site planners were careful to leave some mature trees on site, which makes the place look less sterile than some fully-bulldozed-and-newly-planted planned communities I've seen. Stefanie loves her raised flower bed, as do many of the other residents - despite the fact that each bed is shared by 2 to 4 residents, there's still a waiting list. Some grow vegetables, others flowers for cutting, others plants and flowers transplanted from their home gardens. As the baby boomers enter retirement and retirement communities, we are seeing new trends in senior living. These folks do not want to give up their active lifestyles, their independence, and their autonomy, and why should they?  

Tomorrow I'll tell you more about the upcoming Environments for Aging .09 conference, sure to be informative and perhaps even and inspiring. Stay tuned! 

Nature-Deficit Disorder: Getting Kids Outdoors (watch the video clip!)

Here's a nice television clip from CBS and wjz.com about Nature-Deficit Disorder (a term coined by Richard Louv of Last Child in the Woods and the Children & Nature Network). My favorite part is when TV anchor Don Shelby asks kids what "nature" means to them. You can either watch the clip (after a brief but nonetheless annoying advertisement) or just read the transcript. I've blogged about Louv before, so if you're new and you want more, click here: "Benefits; Resources; Children." 

You can watch more great clips and get lots more great information related to children and nature on the C&NN website.

And here are two more good related articles that I've come across recently:

"Research Shows a Walk in the Park Improves Attention in Children with ADHD," by Frances E. Kuo and Andrea Faber Taylor, 2008. Click HERE to read the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign press release.

Amount of green space and childhood obesity: 

"Neighborhood Greenness and 2-Year Changes in Body Mass Index of Children and Youth," by Jeffrey Wilson and Gilbert Liu, 2008, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 35 No. 6.

Summary by Research Design Connections: "The amount of green space near their homes is related to the weights of inner city children. Children living in inner city neighborhoods with more green space (as determined from analysis of satellite photographs) have significantly lower body mass index changes as they grow taller than children living in areas with smaller amounts of green space."