St Peter’s Hospice

What did they do?

The current gardens were completed in 2018 following a rebuild of the Inpatient Unit and form an integral part of the Hospice, providing a quiet, calm, space for patients and their families. Alongside an enclosed walled garden, there is a Japanese-inspired space, sensory beds, low allergen garden and cut flower beds. Small, raised beds are used for food growing. The garden is connected by flat paths making it accessible for wheelchairs and patient beds.

To create space for nature, dead wood piles have been created to encourage insects, small mammals, and amphibians. A native mixed deciduous hedge has been planted to filter pollution and provide food for nesting birds.  To complement the cultivated gardens, areas of long grass are left uncut during summer so that insects and birds can flourish.

New cut flower beds have been created with plants being grown on site from seed, rather than buying in cut flowers with a large carbon footprint. Nectar-rich flowers have been specifically chosen to attract pollinating insects. Patients receive a small bud vase on their meal tray with flowers freshly cut from the garden.

The impact for the Hospice and beyond  

The Garden Volunteer Team and Head Gardener, Anneke, continue to develop the gardens, with spaces for growing and hands-on activities. A new gardening group has been created, allowing patients to get involved in sowing, and growing food for use in the Hospice kitchen. Activities are designed with pollinators in-mind and include making seed bombs with native wildflowers and sowing sweet peas and sunflowers for use in the cutting garden.

The Hospice also hosts regular corporate volunteer groups who have helped to create hedge screens around the garden’s compost bays. All volunteers are informed as to how their work benefits wildlife and what they can do at home to be more wildlife friendly.

Bereavement support and Therapy sessions take place in a dedicated garden room, and it is hoped that in future, the gardens themselves could be used for eco therapy. The addition of nature-based play infrastructure such as willow tunnels would enhance our work supporting children when a family member is ill or has died.

The impact for pollinators  

Pollinator-friendly, nectar-rich varieties of flowers have been carefully selected, including Achillea, Cosmos, Zinnias, and Cerinthe. The cut flower beds contain a range of flower shapes to attract many different pollinators. Places for insects to shelter such as long grass in summer and dead stems in winter mean that the gardens are rich with pollinators and other wildlife. There is a resident fox, and green woodpeckers have been seen in the wooded areas of the garden.

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