Photo of oak leaves in spring by Henry Domke
The newsletter gets a mention in this week's LANDOnline, especially Nancy Gerlach-Spriggs and Vince Healy's piece, "The Therapeutic Garden: A Definition." It's a good article, and brings up a lot of the issues that we often discuss here at the Therapeutic Landscapes Network. Defining terms like Therapeutic Gardens and Landscapes, Restorative Landscapes, Healing Gardens and so on is a challenge, and Nancy and Vince do a thoughtful investigation.**
* The American Society of Landscape Architects has several Professional Practice Networks, one of which is Healthcare and Therapeutic Design.
Other articles in the newsletter include:
- Letter from the Chair, Susan Erickson
- Persistence of Memory: Scent Gardens for Therapeutic Life Review in Communities for the Elderly, by Wendy Meyer (a pdf of Meyer's thesis on this subject can be found at the end of the article, as well as on the TLN References page, under Meyer, Wendy).
- Bloedel Reserve [as a restorative landscape], by Sally Schaumann
- Returning Home: The Veterans Garden Project, by Steve Mitrione
- Book Review of Recreating Neighborhoods for Successful Aging, by Sally Shute
- And a call for papers from Elizabeth Messer-Diehl, Editor-in-Chief of AHTA's Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture.
Whether you read the full newsletter or just the articles that speak to you, it's an excellent contribution to this field. Many thanks and congratulations to all who made it happen!
* The American Society of Landscape Architects has several Professional Practice Networks, one of which is Healthcare and Therapeutic Design.
**I take slight issue with the assertion that only landscape architects are able design Therapeutic Gardens. I believe that landscape designers, with the proper training, are just as capable. I'd much rather have a well-trained, committed LD be on the team of designing a healthcare facility's outdoor environment than an LA who has no expertise in this particular area. In the interest of full disclosure, I should add that though I have an MLA (Master of Landscape Architecture), I have not yet attained certification as a landscape architect, so for now I practice as a landscape designer.
8 comments:
Will you post about the Restorative Landscapes talk?
I would have to agree about who is best to design a therapeutic garden. I would rather say, "It takes more than a garden design backround to design therapeutic gardens." I come across many well meaning designers and clients who think that any willing designer can do the job. Once I explain what is taken into consideration, most people would agree that my backround is unique and the project is more complex than they realized. Unfortunately, they still want our services for free or donated so they can spend the funds on the installation.
Well, put, anonymous. And Georgia, the next couple of posts will be about all sorts of upcoming events, including the HSNY one - is that the one you're referring to? Or were you asking about the one I gave with Jack Carman and Nancy Chambers last month?
Hello Naomi,
Thanks for posting the ASLA PPN Newsletter so that a much broader audience may read, share, grow by way of the wealth of information contained therein.
*And*, I share your opinion of disagreement with the article. Limiting therapeutic landscape design to the LA world limits the very essence of sensitively designed therapeutic landscapes and the inherent need for a collaborative (team) approach developed based on the patient population to be served.
Resource for interested professionals = my "alma mater": Chicago Botanical Garden's Healthcare Garden Design Certificate Program - 'tis a good place to start for any designer with a passionate heart and readied intelligence for this field.
(Note of disclosure: Though educated as a LA, I am a practicing landscape designer by Oregon statutes.)
Best to you in your continued contributions to the larger good.
Thank you,
Annie
First, I am a huge fan of this site and refer it to all my HT students and HT interns. I work in Canada where there is a distinct shortage of Landscape Architects specifically trained to work in therapeutic garden design. I think well-qualified horticultural therapists or landscape designers also have an important role to play in the choice of materials for sensory and habitat gardens. I am sad to say that I frequently observe landscape designs, even in the special care units of long term care facilities, that include plants that the design team assigned by the architects clearly did not research as to their toxicity and other landscape elements that do not make these spaces "user friendly". Just one of the reasons why involving various stakeholders early in the therapeutic garden design process is so important. Ann Kent HTM
After I saw your comment, I re-read the article in the PPN newsletter about definitions of healing gardens. I know LAs and CLARB are all about credentials....but really, Theresia Hazen and several other people have told me that a major weakness in therapeutic garden designs is that landscape architects don't know enough about plants! That should embarrass the heck out of us, but schools seem to care less and less about plant
knowledge. I learned a lot more about woody plants in my certificate course at George Washington than in my subsequent MLA program. I also ran across an Alzheimer's garden (being re-done) that had oleander in it; you'd think they'd at least check for obviously poisonous things.
> Hope you are doing OK up there in the frozen north--if you need a break you should come to Texas, the bluebonnets are supposed to be spectacular this spring!
Thanks for such great comments, folks. Annie, you reminded me about the disclosure thing, so I'm going back in to add that to the original post (since I'm in the same boat as you - MLA but landscape designer for now). Perhaps the next HTD PPN newsletter needs a Letter to the Editor, no?
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