With support from the Coop Community Fund, areas of the garden have been filled with blooming flowers.
‘The gardens are a really important part of the space at Andrew Mitchell House, that not only offers patients the view from their rooms, but it’s a space that relatives can use to perhaps have some difficult conversations,’ said Les Bourgs fundraising administrator Liz Stonebridge.
‘During the really hot weather I came in early and one of our patients was sat out here at 6.30am with a cup of tea and said it was like paradise.
‘It’s completely transformed, the colour and the variety we’ve got here. It was really important for us to incorporate more pollinator plants.’
Work on the garden at Les Bourgs is an ongoing project. Last year, a new wheelchair accessible path was installed, and ideas for other areas of the garden are in the works.
‘It’s made such a difference having lots of colour,’ said Ms Stonebridge.
‘We are switching to perennials because there is the ongoing cost to think about. The experience and knowledge of the Grow group has been so helpful because they know what combinations work and what will last and fill the space in the right way.’
Staff and crew at Grow combined year-round colour, texture and seasonal interest for an ever-changing backdrop to be enjoyed throughout the year. It has taken three crew members and two members of staff three days to transform the garden.
‘We’ve been planting mostly herbaceous perennials to encourage wildlife into the borders,’ said Grow horticultural manager Stuart Smale.
‘One side has taller perennials which can be seen from the rooms and then lower perennials at the front, not to block the view and to make the effect of a waterway with the winding path through the middle.
‘It’s a very calm place to come and sit.’
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