My name is Julian, and I’m an engineer by profession. I started to notice my mobility getting worse and simple things were becoming harder to do. Eventually, I was diagnosed with a spinal dural fistula, which is a bleed in the spine.
Altogether, I’ve been in hospital for three and a half months now. When I first came to Llandough, after being in the surgical ward at the Heath Hospital, the gardens were such a surprise. They became a real respite. It was somewhere I could escape from the day-to-day of the ward.
One of the best things about the garden for me is when family visit. We can get away from the ward and sit in the garden surrounded by flowers and have a coffee, it doesn’t feel like it’s all about the hospital anymore. You feel relaxed as there are different things to look at and talk about.
I’ve never really had green fingers, but looking around here has definitely encouraged me. It’s got me thinking more about gardening, about how to lay a garden out and how it’s presented. Years ago, if I grew anything, it would just be things you could eat. Now, looking at the gardens here, I think when I go home, I’ll plant things simply for the beauty of them.
Like any person going through something like this, there are dark moments. The garden has become a refuge for me, somewhere to step away from those difficult places. Sometimes I’ll just wander around. I think what it’s really done is give me a bit of mindfulness, a way of switching off from my troubles and focusing on something completely different.
