Beauty and tranquility in a garden that delights

TUCKED away at the back of the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow is a low, yellow brick building.

It’s the National Spinal Injuries Unit, the location of one of Scotland’s newest and most astonishing gardens – a place where patients can be outdoors among flowers and trees even if they are confined to a hospital bed.

Designer James Alexander-Sinclair has transformed a bleak inner courtyard into a place of beauty and tranquillity.

Around the outside, he has created an enchanting woodland, filled with slender trees and flowering plants, that has become a magnet for wildlife despite the dual carriageway that thunders past on the other side of the fence.

“People who come to this unit can be here for many months and the idea was to make somewhere accessible to all patients, even if they couldn’t get out of bed,” says James.

A fountain splashes at the centre of the courtyard and in the corners are chic ‘pods’, outdoor rooms where patients can find a little quiet space away from the bustle of the wards.

Fruit trees grow around the walls and cosmos, salvias and anemones flower in colourful profusion in the flower beds.

The woodland area is overlooked by the wards, so James planted shrubs and woodland flowers to provide interest all year round and he hung bird feeders at almost every window.

Every inch of the garden is accessible to wheelchairs and hospital beds and it is also a place of therapy.

A beautiful greenhouse, gifted by Hartley Botanic, is the hub of activities and a team of horticultural therapists and volunteers have embarked on a programme that will encourage patients to get involved in the life of the garden.

There is a play area for visiting children, and a section of ramps and uneven surfaces where physiotherapists can help patients master the sorts of obstacles that they will encounter once they return home.

This isn’t just a beautiful garden, it is a living space that will enhance the life of everyone who passes through, including visitors and staff.

Named Horatio’s Garden and it is the second spinal injuries unit garden in to be created in memory of Horatio Chapple, a schoolboy who was killed by a polar bear while on a school trip in the Arctic.

His father is a spinal surgeon and Horatio used to volunteer at his local spinal unit during school holidays.

Following an appeal, £500,000 was raised in just six months to enable the building work to start in March this year.

Brewin Dolphin contributed a large sculpture from their garden at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show and Paterson Quarries gave a generous grant.

The result is a garden designed to foster a sense of well-being and James says: “It is the most meaningful garden I have ever designed.”