We provide high quality garden activities in residential care settings in West Sussex.
Here we are keen to share some of those activities with a wider audience. We have 25 years experience in facilitating Garden Clubs and would love to hear from you if you would like any help or advice or, if you are in our catchment area, you would like to book a regular Garden Club session.
We provide a real, hands-on gardening experience 52 weeks a year from the comfort of the residents’ chair indoors. We use a series of terracotta pots that live in the homes’ garden making an attractive display between sessions. These pots are brought into the lounge and planted and tended by the residents.
The year-round schedule follows a pattern of seed sowing and propagating from January to April. We look after the young plants in our nursery unit and then from late April until late August the residents plant out what they have sown. From late August until the New Year they plant winter and spring flowering bulbs and plants.
This is a hugely cheerful and motivating formula that has proved highly successful allowing participants to relate to seasonal changes giving a real-time gardening experience. Gardening is, of course, a very age appropriate activity that appeals to people from all walks of life.
Promoting wellbeing.
Residents who may feel that they are not ‘gardeners’ say that they gain a great deal from joining in just because they ‘love flowers.’
There is a strong reminiscence element in all our sessions; residents often remarks with pleasure that they remember a particular plant in their grandmother’s garden or that their ‘dad grew that for mum on the allotment.’
We provide this service in nursing, residential and dementia care settings.
We are known for having a very popular and easy going approach with residents.
Our Garden Clubs are very popular with relatives; it has been noted that visitors often choose to call in during our sessions as it provides an easy talking point with their relative or friend.
Hourly sessions.
Competitive charges.
Inclusive of all materials.
Testimonial.
“I found him [Tony] so engaging with the residents, taking time with every one of them, talking about plants, showing them plants, helping them pot seeds and explaining to them in a gentle simple way about the plants in the garden. He knew every residents name, shook each one’s hand when he left using their name and told them when he was next back.
I cannot praise him enough for the lovely way he interacted with the residents and Mum; his gentle thoughtful approach at a level all could become involved in was lovely to see.” H. Mc (Dec 2018)
The Thinking Gardener 