The Wisconsin Gardener

cc It's important at the end of our lives to be in a place that has meaning. For many of us, it's the beauty of nature gardens, the outdoors, the scent of lilacs. It's very important to us. It calls to us. We are at Agrace HospiceCare in Fitchburg. I'm with the landscape coordinator, Ruth Miller. Ruth, I'm very impressed. Here you've all taken that concept, that importance that almost spirituality with nature and really gone with it. We have. It's very important to us to offer quality of life at the end of life for each patient that comes through our doors and to also offer that to the families that are here with their loved one. It's just as important at the end as any other time. It is. We sometimes forget about that. It is here to help remember, bring back memories to the patients and to the families so that they can take a little break come out here, breathe deeply see the wonderful flowers we have around the facility and then go back in refreshed to deal with what is happening here. You've told me that you've got private patios for each individual resident with their own gardens. But you've gone beyond that and created gardens all over the place. We're sitting in front of one that I'm dying to go and play with. This is our alpine garden. That's what it looks like. It is a cute little addition that we added. The kids like to come and stack rocks on the gardens. I'm seeing little rock formations in there! The columbines are in bloom. You've got dwarf iris and this is...? A lot of dwarf conifers, also that are placed in the garden there. You've created other gardens around here. In fact, this is actually... Part of the kitchen garden. We have kind of a beginning and an end to it. In that kitchen garden, we offer the kitchen some added fresh fruits and vegetables give to the patients and their families for meals that they offer here. You also mentioned a memory garden? Yes, we have a memory garden that is out the front. It has a brick walkway that you can walk around. In that, we have created various areas. Most of it's in a shaded woodland area. Oh, nice. We have a lot of flowering azaleas tulips in the spring, flowering crabs. We also have some creeping phlox that are on the rock walls around the facility, or over at the pond. So, kind of a restful place. Right, very restful. We have benches and various other things over there plus bird feeders that encourage the birds to come and visit while you're out there. You've also got I think I saw a gazebo as I came in. Yes, as you were heading around the facility in what I refer to as our backyard, you have a gazebo and it overlooks a volunteer garden that was put in when the original Don and Marilyn Anderson building was erected. It is handicapped accessible so if the patient is able to come out in a wheelchair the volunteer staff can wheel them through the gardens. Let's come back to the importance of the small little patios. I tried create space for each room different from every other room. There's many of them that come out at the end of their life in their beds to be out here at the end. It is a very special place and we try to accommodate various things that each patient wants. Contrast that with, you know, the old days in the 19th century with the white sterile walls of a hospital or a sick room. I think this is a great improvement. Oh, definitely. Now, this isn't just for you. You've got quite a group helping you. We do. Part of the hospice mission is to use volunteers. The garden volunteers, I have about 30 on my list. They come three or four days during the week. The community donated the building and, in turn, has also donated many of the plants that we do have at the facility. One thing I'd like people to leave with is that you don't have to be a resident of Agrace to take home some of these lessons learned. If you're dealing with a sick family member or friend or someone near the end of their life bring in a bouquet of lilacs or bring in some cuttings from an ornamental crab apple. What a difference that might make to the quality of the end of their life. Exactly. Thank you very much for sharing this with us. Thank you for coming. We appreciate it.