ABOYNE – While the new Groves Memorial Community Hospital is beautiful on the inside, with state-of-the-art technology to treat patients, the grounds of the hospital still resembled a construction site.
That was until the Grand River Agricultural Society (GRAS) and the Elora-Salem Horticultural Society got their hands on it.
Now there are gardens, a gazebo, a tree-lined meandering path, and seating for patients, their families and staff to get away from the busy-ness inside and catch a moment of peace and reflection.
It doesn’t look like much in early spring but come back in a month and the pollinator garden overseen by the horticultural society will be in leaf and some plants will be blooming.
And the path and benches will be installed, trees will be planted at the memorial forest, and the vision of the two community organizations will be visible to the rest of us.
“We put $250,000 into the healing garden in 2020 and last year spent $100,000 on the gardens,” said GRAS vice president Deborah Whale in an interview. “Once we saw the result of that, we thought a lot more could be done.”
Memorial forest – The Grand River Agricultural Society has spent $350,000 on gardens at the hospital. This photo shows the bare bones of the memorial forest that should be completed this year.
Photo by Joanne Shuttleworth
The centrepiece of the healing garden is the gazebo, which provides shade and a lovely vantage point to view the rest of the garden.
Whale said GRAS has plans to improve this section with more seating, more plantings, berms to block the view of the parking lot, and a fountain.
Under the leadership of past president Dawn McClure, the Elora-Salem Horticultural Society planted a pollinator garden last fall, so it’s not a mature garden yet. And at this time of year, it looks more like sticks and mulch than the lush garden that will materialize later in the season.
Julanta Chalas was working her patch of garden on April 29 and said society members took plants from their own gardens for the hospital, “so it will look mature pretty fast,” she said.
“Like any gardening job, it’s all in the prep work. We spent a lot of time removing the stones and rock and putting in good soil. Now we wait and see if the plantings survived the winter.”
Whale said the next phase for GRAS is the memorial forest, which is underway. GRAS is paying for the path and plantings but people can sponsor a tree or bench as a tribute to a loved one, complete with a commemorative plaque.
Funds raised will support the Groves Hospital Foundation, which purchases equipment for the hospital.
It costs $3,500 for a memorial tree and $5,000 for a bench.
“We appreciate the support of GRAS,” said foundation executive director Lori Arsenault. “It was their vision to beautify the space at the hospital. And the memorial forest will be an ongoing source of revenue for the foundation.”
The pathway through the memorial forest will join with the Elora Cataract Trail that skirts the hospital.
Whale said there’s opportunity to expand the forest and pathway in the future as there’s quite a bit of land back there.
She said the purpose and mandate of GRAS is to support agriculture and improve the environment and not to fund capital projects.
So this is a way the organization could support the hospital without donating to the capital campaign.
“Research shows that people in hospitals whose windows overlook a garden get better faster than those who overlook a parking lot,” Whale said.
“We’re committed to making it look good. Hopefully it will benefit patients and staff.”
