Healing Garden Design Sketch

After visiting VINC and consolidating our individual research, we have decided to base our plan on a painting by Merrill Bray through a series of iterations. We like the balance, sense of pulse, beat and rhythm. The pattern also fits well with what we had in mind for the planning of the courtyard space. Here's a quick sketch plan of our updated design concept proposal. 

The essence of spirit, Merrill Bray

Visit to VINC

Our group visited the Victorian Indigenous Nurseries Co-operative (VINC) to learn more about indigenous plants, collect some first hand information on traditional medicinal plants and their growing conditions and get some fresh ideas for the healing garden project.

Dianella Tasmanica

Kidney Weed & Common Rasp Fern

Seaberry Saltbush

Prickly Moses

http://www.vinc.net.au/

Circular water features

The following are some examples of potential water features which could be specified for the Southern Health Healing garden. A circular aesthetic has been sought, to comply with our current design scheme. 

These water features are from 'Water features direct' 

Contact Us Mon - Sat: 9am - 5pm Sun: 11am - 4pm Water Features Direct 195-197 Queens Parade Clifton Hill VIC 3068 P: 03 9486 8323 F: 03 9486 8343 E: info@waterfeaturesdirect.com.au

Using Everyday Object to Create Indigenous Art

Re-Use / Recycle / Sustainable


~using everyday object to create Aboriginal Art in the courtyard space


Unique Garden Planters and Displays

using recycled tyres to create a pattern, as indicated in our design proposal

Bill's Backyard

After all this research into gardens, I overlooked a very close site which is another example of a healing garden. My very own backyard...

My semi-retired father has spent much of his time recently on gardening! He says the act of planting and looking after the plants is relaxing and calming.

Here are the results so far!

The garden is an absolute chaos...but this sense of chaos gives it a fun character, full of curiosity and discoveries. It has a rather mannerist quality to it. Hidden around the garden are statues of animals, gnomes and miscellaneous objects and a couple of water features. There is no sense of planning in the garden at all...just intuition of where objects should go.

When I asked him why he preferred to use free standing pots in the concreted area of the backyard, my dad responded that he didn't want the space to feel too rigid. Potted plants are moveable and provide the flexibility for change to occur. 

Should the healing garden at Monash Medical centre have this attribute of flexibility?

St Vincent's Hospital Visit

Last Tuesday, we visited the garden at St Vincent's hospital.
There were two areas, one with a sloped landscape with lots of grass for seating and sunshine and the other which was shady with scattered blocks of concrete for seating with a gravel landscape. 


From our observation, it seemed like the former area was a lot more occupied. This supports our finding that over designing a garden space is less attractive than one that is more natural and fluid. 

The sloped landscape area

The gravel + concrete seating area.