Fay Holbrook and Catharine Byrd grew up with gardening in their lives.
Holbrook, who’s from Kentucky, remembers gardening “about anything we wanted” with her family. Byrd, who’s from Alabama, remembers how her mom would direct her to “go do this and go do that” when she helped out in the garden as a child.
But time moves on, and Holbrook and Byrd are now residents at Touchmark at Fairway Village, which means their lives and space have changed drastically since they moved into the Vancouver retirement community.
Touchmark provides an outdoor garden, but the Pacific Northwest only has a few months of good outside weather each year. That fact prompted Touchmark to get a therapeutic sensory Eldergrow garden for its residents, which can be tended inside year-round. The small, troughlike garden sits in a community room in Touchmark, where residents enjoy its plants and lighting.
“It’s kind of nice that people can come in and see stuff like this,” Holbrook said.
The garden is watered daily by residents, who can also smell and touch its plants and pick up good vibes from the greenery. Becky Plourde, an Eldergrow educator, visits Touchmark twice a month to teach about gardening. There’s been about five classes, and eventually residents will be able to eat spinach, arugula and other vegetables they’ve grown.
But beyond just general fun, a garden can also provide therapeutic benefits. A 2014 report from the University of Washington showed that gardening on a daily basis can reduce the risk factors for dementia by 36 percent. It can also help people with clinical depression see a reduction in the severity of their depression, and dementia patients who have access to gardens are less likely to display aggression or experience injuries, and should have improved sleep patterns.
That’s because gardening can promote creativity, sensory stimulation and social bonding, explained Katrina Kleiber, the memory care manager at Touchmark.
“We had a lady who spent a lot of time in her apartment, and she didn’t really want to come out, but she loved to garden. When she was at home, that’s what she did,” Kleiber said. “And then when this came, I’m seeing her out, I’m seeing her in the common area, eating her meals out here more.”
Ashley Bjorum, a life enrichment coordinator with Touchmark, concurred with Kleiber, and said residents’ families have been happy to see the Eldergrow addition.
“The residents are over there and they’re talking to plants, which I’m assuming is something they did in the past with their own gardens,” Bjorum said. “A lot of them did have these big, beautiful gardens, so family members were telling us that when this came in, this was exactly what they dreamed of for their mom or dad to have access to.”
Byrd was involved in making label cards for the Eldergrow plants after they arrived. She said she and other residents have felt a better quality of life with Eldergrow around.
“I love flowers,” Byrd said. “When I had a house before I moved here, I had lots of plants and things, and my husband and I did a lot of planting and things like that, but we don’t have that space now because we’re in these apartments. Otherwise you just sit in these rooms, and look through these windows and that just drives me crazy all day long.”
Plourde received her master gardener certification in the fall of 2017, and takes classes through Oregon State University to stay up to date. Plourde said residents were more reserved during the first class, but have started to open up. One resident came up to Plourde and hugged her before the start of a recent class.
Kleiber said Eldergrow is so popular that they’ve had to create a chart to make sure every resident has a chance to water the plants.
“It really brings our residents together,” Kleiber said. “They’re very excited and I’ve noticed friendships that have blossomed over it. We have two ladies who kind of fight over who gets to water it.”
