Our Gardens

What's the attraction?

Whether spending the day at the hospice or having a longer stay on the bedded unit, patients enjoy the peace and tranquility of the gardens. They offer calm and contemplative spaces for families and friends who are also affected by the illness of a loved-one.  The very core of its design has been centered around creating a calm and peaceful atmosphere for patients, their family and friends.

We are exceptionally fortunate to have Colin Porter, Kew trained and Horticulture Week's 'Gardener of the Year 2010' working here to make them not just beautiful, but practical too.  Colin has managed many projects and brought the gardens to the attention of the National Gardens Scheme; a first for hospices in the UK.  His projects include:

• A Retreat Garden, with Japanese-inspired planting and landscaping
• Autumn and winter borders
• 2 ponds
• Kitchen garden producing fruit, vegetables and herbs
• Mazzard orchard featuring local varieties of mazzard cherry and plum trees
• Rose garden
• Physic garden, dedicated to medicinal herbs and plants; another first fro hospices in the UK.  The Physic garden has been built by Colin, and backed by Professor Liz Williamson of Reading University, one of the countries most eminent experts in the medicinal value of plants.  Many patients receive complementary therapies, such as aromatherapy, which involve the use of plants and herb extracts. The Physic Garden help our therapists to explain what benefits certain plants may bring.

Open Gardens

In 2009, North Devon Hospice was also the only hospice in the country to open its gardens to the public as part of the National Gardens Scheme.

We did the same in 2010; welcoming the community with cream teas and marquee stalls.