garden - designing the garden

A garden at the heart of the healing process

The main structural foundation of the garden design is a wide silvery path which flows through the full length of the grounds and is a symbol for water and the 'life force', linking all the wards and patient spaces and helping define five distinct areas of the landscape: a paved and gravelled courtyard with architectural planting, a herb garden which thrives in the south-west facing aspect, a lawn surrounded by flowering perennials and shrubs, a terrace edged with raise beds and trees, a woodland edge boundary, and a protective long living wall of willow.

The planting colour palette aims to glow through all seasons, and offers a wide variety of forms and textures, from trees and shrubs, to exotic wild grasses, rare flowers and aromatic herbs. The gardens greens particularly sing seen from the warm hues inside and against the vibrant lavender walls outside.

In addition to the many shades and ‘dilutions’ of green in the garden, the planting colours strengthen from north to south. Whites and lavender in the gravel courtyard are enlivened by the ochres and blues in the adjacent herb garden. The perennials around the lawn range through yellow, orange and pink shades which move into a warm mix of crimson, red and violet around the terrace and raised beds of deep lavender blue glazed bricks.

The colour scheme for planting is inspired by the principles of homeopathy: subtle dilutions of white, ochre, lavender and terracotta, and echoes the artist's use of colours and shades for the interior environmental design.

“You get encouragement to be yourself here. I can’t think of the words, it’s not like being out of your body but there is a sensation of looking down on yourself and beginning to see what others are seeing.”

Patient