For immediate release: April 19, 2012

Contact: Gary Kimsey, 970.495-7427 glk@pvhs.org

Landscape professionals volunteer April 20 to help complete the Gardens at PVH

More than 20 landscape professionals who are members of the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado will volunteer their time Friday to help complete the Gardens at PVH, therapeutic healing gardens under construction at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins.

The ALC volunteers are also undertaking the project in honor of Earth Day on April 22.

Zak George, an ALCC member whose son was born at PVH, said he volunteered to help on the PVH project because of its benefits to the community.

"The outdoor gardens will encourage people to get outside and experience sunshine and fresh air in a beautiful setting," he said.

The ALCC members will plant shrubs and perennial flowers in the Gardens at PVH from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Poudre Valley Hospital is developing the Gardens at PVH to help patients, families, and hospital staff break outside the traditional walls of medicine and actively participate in the healing influences of nature.

Kim Ewy, a PVHS employee involved in the project, said the Gardens at PVH will use the special connection people feel with plants, gardening, and nature to enhance therapy, rehabilitation, and stress relief, as well as increase physical, mental and emotional well-being for visitors.

"Visitors will be able to enter the Gardens at PVH and find peace and solace in times of personal challenge," she said.

The Gardens at PVH will be in a 264-square-foot by 50-square-foot area immediately east of the PVH building.

The Gardens will feature three areas:

• Space for larger gatherings and celebrations.
• An area where patients can be outdoors to encourage rehabilitation.
• A quiet area for reflection and meditation.

Individuals and companies have donated cash and in-kind services to build the first phase of the Gardens at PVH.

The first phase, scheduled to be completed in mid-May, includes garden design and construction. The second phase will add features and specialty gardens. The total project cost will be $435,000.

--PVHS--