Gardens and gardening are an important source of outdoor activity and enjoyment for people with dementia. Simply walking through a garden helps to keep the body active and provides physical health benefits, while involvement in tending the plants can help to maintain or improve co-ordination, strength and stamina. Caring for plants can also help to boost feelings of independence and control as well as providing purposeful activity.
A thoughtfully planted dementia garden will contain plenty of colour, scents and contrast to stimulate the senses, with familiar plants that perhaps prompt memories of previous gardens and visiting places of beauty. In turn this can help to alleviate feelings of stress and reduce agitation.
In a care home garden, it is important to give a feeling of security and safety, for example by providing continuity of paving and a circular route so that residents will not have the opportunity to lose their way. The garden should also contain benches for relaxation and an open green area, perhaps for more active pursuits.
This video (one of many) produced by the Open University provides a number of practical hints for creating a user-friendly dementia garden that will not only engage care home residents, but also provide sensory stimulation and encourage continuing participation in a popular pastime.