A true healing garden Natural medicine

Planning a garden for Casey House Hospice for people with HIV/AIDS provided a unique opportunity to combine aesthetics with healing.

Patrick Thompson, of Brock's Landscape in Oakville, began with a blank slate — a 90-by-50-foot site with a large shade tree and grass behind the building near Jarvis and Wellesley Sts.

Before he started, Thompson researched the disease so he could learn about alternative and natural medicines. "We wanted to make a little peaceful area for the patients," he says.

Casey House didn't have a lot of money for material and plants, but Thompson brought in 19 tonnes of granite and mossy boulders to build a stream and waterfall for "mind-body therapy," he says. It also blocks out traffic noise.

Because the area gets a lot of sun, he put in flagstone and a seating area in the shady area around the tree, then planted a wide assortment of aromatic plants, including, lilac, mint, cinnamon basil, verbena, echinacea, day lilies and hostas.

Along the wall facing Jarvis, he installed different forms of tall ornamental grasses, because "we wanted to enclose the garden but also aesthetically dress up the street."

Between the stepping stones, he planted different thymes, so when people step on them, they smell the scent, part of his aromatherapy approach.

He put in a separate herb and vegetable garden so the residents "might get a sense of accomplishment from looking after it," he explains. "Gardening is supposed to be good for the soul."

It includes aloe vera, lots of basils, lettuce, thymes and tomatoes and will make "a nice dense area once it grows."

This garden is all about healing and growing.