Blooming Marvellous Gardens Blossom Into Life

Congratulations to Rowanside who is the winner of the Blooming Marvellous Competition 2019!

The judges felt that this North Region home was ‘colourful and creative’ with ‘good evidence that it involved

residents and it is very much their project’. One judge summed up the transformation of the garden and outdoor

area, stating: ‘A lot of thought and effort was taken in producing such a wonderful environment for all to enjoy.’

Home manager Nadia Whittle said: ‘I’m thrilled – it’s been ace! It took three months to finish and all of the service

users and their families got involved. It was phenomenal; there were six different sections and everyone had their

own section to work on.

The fantastic end result has attracted the attention of people in high places:

‘It looks so good that we’ve got the Mayor of Trafford coming to visit!’

Rowanside will receive £1000 to improve and maintain their home and lovely garden for residents and service users.

BEFORE

We think you’ll agree it is a most impressive renovation!

The Mallards

Four green-fingered runners up will each receive £250 and one forward thinking resident at The Mallards is already

planning the festive future of the garden.

Service user Jake said: ‘We want to get Christmas baskets and decorate them ourselves so I think the £250 will go

towards this.’

The Norfolk home was one of the worthy runners up thanks to the clear evidence of an overhaul and the strong

contribution of service users at every stage of the process.

AFTER

Jake, who was fully involved in the transformation of the outside area, continued:

‘It took two to three months and we had some guys paint the decking and sand it down because it was rotten. It was

brilliant and I fixed a planter. A day centre man named Robert made all the planters and we bought all the flowers

and a bench and arbor. We chose the arbor but not the colours – it was a joint effort with residents and staff.

My favourite thing about it was cutting the grass and also doing general maintenance on the garden now.’

Support Worker Katherine says the project has definitely ‘brought out the gardener in Jake, he has even grown a

chilli plant himself!’

Below: Jake and a fellow service user hard at work on the revamp – and loving it!

Below: The train ornament and the planter take shape….

Above: The stunning re-imagined decking area in shades of blue, purple and grey

The memorial garden was originally intended to honour manager, Duncan Gray, who sadly passed away last year.

However, as Katherine explains, it has now taken on a greater meaning:

‘It is a memorial area for our service users to sit and think about people they have loved and lost, not necessarily just

Duncan.

One resident misses his Dad a lot and so he goes and sits on the bench, looks at the stars and that helps him greatly.

Having that space for that purpose is great for them to reflect and we can say ‘Go and sit and think about your Dad’

or whoever.’

Above: The bench is the centrepiece of the memorial garden for late manager, Duncan Gray

The judging panel agreed that this outdoor space delivered for residents:

‘It is a very good end result, from dull to bright and colourful and with a good layout. Moreover, it is accessible all

year round for staff and service users.’

They were equally moved by the efforts to acknowledge Duncan: ‘It is a fitting tribute to the previous manager who

was an amazing inspiration for all at The Mallards.’

Albert House

Albert House changed things up with their video entry, which impressed everyone with its creativity and sense of

fun.

One judge believed: ‘It was a very good film evidencing all aspects of the process and what it took to create the

lovely garden for service users to enjoy. Fellow judges agreed saying: ‘The video was a great choice of medium to

showcase their achievement.’ They also noted there was ‘obvious involvement of residents’ which was an important

element of the criteria.

House Manager Vicky Larham edited the video herself and explained:

‘I didn’t want to send in photos as I didn’t think they did the garden justice, so that was the inspiration for doing

something different. By the same token, I was very inspired by the hard work and dedication of the staff team and

wanted to demonstrate that.

I was really pleased with the end result, as it was my first video ever! I worked it out myself by experimenting on the

computer with different themes and music, then put it together.’

Support Worker Beverley Thuesen was extremely happy with the finished space:

‘It’s just brilliant! It’s stimulating, it’s a happy place, and it’s their place.

The residents love it, when you see them sitting out there – they have such smiley faces and are calm. It took four to

five months from the end of April; it worked out really well and that’s exactly what we wanted.

Staff really worked hard and all of the service users were super involved. My favourite element was our new staff

member, Tony Smith, who was very motivated for this project.’

Kimberley House

Lisa Crabtree, Home Manager of Kimberley House, was excited

to win considering the huge challenge they faced.

‘The garden near enough killed me,’ she laughed.

‘I came to work wearing white and decided to tackle the

garden……I didn’t go home white!

All staff took on an area that played to their strengths – whether

that was the design part or the gardening part.

We had good weather for it and it was great to be outside and

not playing on tablets.

It was a nice change of activity to be planting flowers.’

Clients at Kimberly were encouraged to volunteer their views

on how the area should look.

‘It was important to listen to the service users’ suggestions.

One of them had the idea to use the Cambian logo, so were

using their initiative there – I wouldn’t have thought of that!’

One of the home’s clients, Samantha, took a

pivotal role in the renovation and helped dig up

the plots of land.

When quizzed on the best things about working

on the project, Sammy replied: ‘I got to pick out

different flowers and staff helped me paint the

flower beds.

I really like the Kimberley House sign and now we

have a fantastic garden where we can sit out

when it’s nice weather.

I like that there’s lots and lots of photos showing

that I helped!’

She recalled the funny moments from the

process: ‘Lisa getting her clothes dirty and having

to borrow a top from me and Lisa pulling faces

when using the spade!’

Left:

Home

Manager Lisa

and client

Samantha get

stuck into the

digging!

Right:

Samantha

smiling

through the

weeds

The judges were united in their praise for this garden, declaring that it ‘will be enjoyed by the young people for a

long time to come.’ Further to this, they felt residents made good use of the space and ensured it was ‘a pleasing

area to welcome all visitors.’

Children’s Service

The Head of the Service was delighted to be recognised. ‘I’m extremely pleased for the young people and the staff

team. They all worked very hard to achieve their vision and did an amazing job bringing it all together.’

The judges fully agreed, and hailed the careful planning done here. ‘We felt there was strategy and purpose with this

garden, from the involvement of everyone to making use of unwanted items.’ Their comments referenced the

‘brilliant use of the grounds to liven up the space and transform the garden. Very colourful!’

The manager explained their choice of flowers:

‘Flowers were picked and planted to bloom at different times of the year, which suggests the idea of impermanence

that things don’t last forever, but something new will come.’

The home believes: ‘Engaging children in planting, weeding and watering as a shared activity with the adults

encourages conversation, cultivates attachment and allows for those all-important conversations with the children

that foster healing.’

Below: A favourite feature – the old bookcase re-purposed as a flower bed and a bird feeder becomes a Welcome sign

The service’s detailed reasoning behind the ‘plan to turn the garden into an environment that promotes wellbeing

for all that use it’ was impressively well thought out. It was certainly one of the best entries we received in terms of

aiming to provide improved outcomes for service users: ‘We wanted the garden to be a place to improve and

practice old skills and develop new skills, a place to promote inclusion and foster understanding and tolerance.’

Above: Strawberries, pumpkins and beans were grown by the children

‘They learn about the different foods that they grow and gain a keen interest in eating them too. One of the children

stated: “We’ve grown strawberries, it's easy you just need mud, water and light, then they just grow.” While

another declared: “They taste nicer than the ones from the shop.”

Growing any plant requires attention and care; therefore, it teaches children responsibility and patience. The

anticipation of waiting makes the discovery of fruit or veg that is ready to eat, even more exciting.’

Below: The cable reel was painted to create a fairy table

The Barefoot Trail

‘A curved path designed to be walked on barefooted, with different textured sections allows those that use it to

enter the present moment. Having to concentrate on each step and each textured feeling doesn’t leave a lot of room

for outside thoughts to enter your mind.

The barefoot path acts as a centring tool to quiet the mind. As the path bends and curves over different textures, the

mind becomes disorientated because it's not sure what will come next. This confusion calms the mind in a gentle

and still way.

A variety of surfaces sand, mud, gravel, river stones, wood and thyme, were used to indicate transition from one

space to another and provide a sensory experience.’

Final Thoughts

It was clear that a huge amount of work, planning and dedication has gone into every project and it was most

inspiring to see all of the service users and staff getting fully involved with the design, planting, painting, building

and finally, real enjoyment of the spaces they created.

Congratulations again to all the winners & thank you to everyone that shared their beautiful gardens with us.