Glamourous Gardening

Here at Lakewood Reserve, A Juniper Senior Living Community, we have dug up the dirt and juiced the lemons for the lemonade.

The residents are ready for our gorgeous patio to be open for the season. Community gardens are the ideal place for seniors to spend their summers. There is a pattern of evidence that suggests that well designed gardens can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and relax people. Also there is research that shows experiencing nature and looking at gardens reduces pain. Many seniors once spent countless hours in their yard so we have tapped into a person’s interests, which can spark memories, and can rekindle joy. With the right level of support and assistance, tending to flowers and other plants can also help a resident connect to the past and the future. They may recall childhood memories, or those of being in a garden with their own children, or look forward to enjoying homegrown veggies at the diner table. These positive feelings that gardens can incite will even promote increased engagement and reality orientation.