Why a Garden?

Traumatic injuries sustained in motor vehicle or work-related accidents, and serious diseases such as strokes, heart attacks, cancer and Alzheimer’s, can have a devastating effect on a patient’s ability to continue leading a normal life. The rehabilitation process aims to restore patients back to normal physical, mental, social and emotional health.

Recreational therapy provides activities that help patients re-learn previous leisure skills, such as gardening, using adaptive techniques that adjust the activity to the patient’s abilities. Kris explains that although patients who once enjoyed tending a large vegetable or flower garden may no longer have that ability after a hospital stay, adaptive techniques such as container gardening allow them to remain active in their former hobby.

A Community Effort

Once the decision was made to start the Rehab Garden, Kris looked for volunteers who could supply the know-how—and labor—to get it off the ground. After presenting the idea at the meetings of several of Slidell’s gardening groups, she found eager volunteers in the Eden Isles Garden Club and in the LSU Agriculture Center’s Louisiana Master Gardener program.

Juanita Gibbs, one of the volunteers who have been with the garden since its inception, is known for the gardens at her Oak Harbor home. They have been known to stop golfers in their tracks on the adjacent course, truly “green” with envy. Juanita is also a Louisiana Master Gardener. In that program, directed by the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service, volunteers receive at least 40 hours of intensive training in all aspects of horticulture. In return, they are asked to donate 40 hours of community service. The program allows individuals to dedicate their time and talents to enhancing the quality of life for citizens of their community by using the science and art of horticulture; this tenet is self-evident in the Rehab Garden’s greenery.

Pots and Pots of Plants

The entire Rehab Garden is container planted. It’s an important aspect of the adaptive techniques used to provide patients’ therapy. Larger containers grouped on pallets are easily accessible to someone who is seated. Whether patients are wheelchair-bound or just have difficulty standing or squatting, they can still tend large plants such as tomatoes or roses, and the containers are widely spaced for unimpeded access. Patients can grow smaller flowers or herbs in small containers placed on tables or racks at wheelchair height.

Whimsical decorations are placed throughout the garden area. There’s a windmill, and a birdhouse with a chapel painted on it called the “Chirpin’ Church.” On the walkway leading to the main hospital building sits a sculpture of sorts, in the shape of a woman, composed of a variety of plant pots. The “Clay Pot Lady,” made by volunteer Linda Hoth, adds a bit of levity to the garden, and is dressed according to the seasons. She’s appeared at various times as the Easter Bunny and Mrs. Santa Claus!

All in all, the Rehab Garden has proved to be a great addition to Slidell Memorial Hospital. It’s been a labor of love for the volunteers, a perfect arena for patient rehabilitation, and a place for quiet contemplation for everyone.