September 21, 2004
It could be said that there are fewer and fewer true sanctuaries in today’s modern world. In cities and towns throughout the world, however, there remain lush refuges to escape to — gardens large and small.
Gardens today can serve an important role in improving and maintaining the health of an increasingly hectic society.
On Thursday, October 7, Holly H. Shimizu, Executive Director of the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., will share ways that gardens can be enhanced and designed to achieve a maximum level of serenity, providing physical and mental health benefits to both gardeners and garden visitors. Her lecture, “The Garden as Sanctuary: Heath Benefits Revealed,” will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Bright Hall Lounge.
“After the tragic events of 9/11, people started visiting the Botanic Garden more than ever — the question is why was that the case? The garden is a place where people can find sanctuary, but not every garden is designed for that purpose,” said Shimizu, a 1974 Temple University Ambler alumna who studied horticulture and landscape design. “I’d like to provide the audience with an understanding and appreciation for the important elements of sensitive garden design.”
During her talk, Shimizu will examine ways of using water, capturing views, and creating lines and pathways that make gardens more intimate and create spaces suited for personal and emotional restoration. She will also present research that clearly indicates that gardens can provide healing and renewal to all who experience them.
“A woman who visited the gardens once told me that she had no life; she was in complete depression until she picked up a spade, dug a hole, and a beautiful garden sprang forth from her work. It gave her a sense of renewal,” Shimizu said. “There are layers that you can create in the landscape, it has a lot to do with movement. There is a rhythm to a garden that’s almost musical, which can provide you with that level of serenity.”
According to Shimizu, developing gardens — from a simple backyard hobby to the Formal Garden centerpiece of the Landscape Arboretum of Temple University Ambler — offers both mental and physical health rewards.
“You are in the outdoors engaged in physical activity that is not too stressful, particularly for older individuals,” she said. “Digging, weeding, it’s a very healthy outlet for the creative process.”
Shimizu has been Executive Director of the U.S. Botanic Garden since 2000. Prior to her current position, she was managing director at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond; was the first curator of the National Herb Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum; and worked with several gardens and nurseries in England, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. An internationally recognized horticulturist, Shimizu was a host of the popular gardening television show, The Victory Garden for 12 years in addition to developing her own herb garden video.
According to Stephanie Cohen, Director of the Landscape Arboretum of Temple University Ambler, Shimizu’s lecture is the first of a series of programs that will be sponsored by the Arboretum and the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture throughout the coming year.
“I think (Shimizu’s) lecture is a great way to begin this new series of educational programs for our students and the public. Gardening and personal health are topics of interest to everyone and clearly mesh in significant ways,” said Cohen, an internationally known horticulturist in her own right. “One of the major purposes of the Arboretum is to be an exemplary sustainable landscape that can educate and inspire students, community residents, and corporate and municipal officials to become environmentally responsible. Topics such as this help individuals to approach and appreciate gardens in new and innovative ways.”
Individuals interested in attending the lecture are asked to RSVP at 215-283-1286 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Tickets for the event are $5 or free for students or arboretum donors of $100 or more.
The lecture series will continue November 9 with Laurie D. Olin, founding partner of the Olin Partnership and the topic “Rus in Urbs: Nature and Urbanity.”
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