Page 59 - KW LUXURY MAGAZINE

To remain inclusive, therapeutic gardens are “frequently simple, uni ed and easily comprehended places.”
activity that is appropriate for that physical component. And while helping improve the ailments of individual patients, the larger effect these programs have are even more rewarding.
“We’re working to create a community,” Diehl says. “A lot of the people we work with have been isolated because of their disorder
or disability, so through gardening we’re giving them an opportunity to become part of a community and to realize that the work they’re doing in this community is meaningful and valued.”
Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio (JMMDS) is headed by founder and principal Julie Moir Messervy, who has made it her mission to create and inspire others to create exquisite and environmentally sensitive places
of beauty and meaning. While not technically deemed therapeutic gardens, her contemplative landscape designs are meant to “help people nd healing, pleasure and joy through their thoughtful layout, plantings, and details,” Messervy says. This interpretation and execution results in a speci c technique of landscape design unique to JMMDS.
In Contemplative Gardens, Messervy describes the elements of “Stroll Journeys” and “Mind Journeys” that she tries to choreograph in her landscapes within her rm. “A Stroll Journey is composed of 3 simple elements,” Messervy explains, “a departure point, a destination point (an interesting path that links the two), and pausing places along the way that pique your interest and promote thought. When you come to a pausing or stopping place on your Stroll Journey, that’s where you can create a special Mind Journey.” Physical ways of implementing these concepts are through benches to provide a comfortable viewing position, large garden features that offer a fascinating focal point, and a frame that surrounds it. “For me, you rst need to get a landscape’s layout right. Then you can ll out the details with appropriate plantings and sustainable materials,” Messervy says.
The results are spaces that function well for clients with an overwhelming feeling of being “just right.” And for Messervy and her team, feeling comes rst. “The architect Louis Sullivan famously said that ‘form follows function.’ At JMMDS, we think differently: we believe that ‘form follows feeling ( rst),’” she states. No matter the exact layout or methods, paying attention and crafting ne details, as Messervy notes, is vital to making a garden that heals.
Garden elements, features and equipment are all selected to provide accessible places, activities and experiences to the greatest extent possible, from raised owerbeds to detailed signs.
to understand the multitude of bene ts that are possible from therapeutic gardening programs and the good it can do on every scale.
The basis of this type of healing comes from combining active experiences and passive experiences within a therapeutic garden, Diehl notes. The active experiences include tasks that involve physical movement or stimulation, while passive experiences can simply be the time spent just sitting under a tree surrounded by
nature, enjoying the plants and wildlife around you. These gardens tend to re ect the needs of the individual or the group, depending on their speci c needs, while including speci c plants that peak their interests. She says, for example, a patient with movement trouble would bene t from therapy that involves tuning their ne motor skills and hand-eye coordination — to do so, she would have them work on such tasks as taking cuttings, planting seeds, whichever
Therapeutic gardens commonly stimulate the full range of senses, including memory, hearing, touch, smell and sometimes taste.
57
TOP TWO PHOTOS COURTESY OF LEAH ELIZABETH