Horatio’s Garden London & South East opened in 2020 at the London Spinal Cord Injury Centre in the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore.
The spinal centre treats adults, children and young people, predominantly admitted from London, Greater London and the South East of England.
“Gardening is good for your whole being. Outside is like a medicine, a healing power. Horatio’s Garden has its own healing power. It makes you feel better in yourself.”
Garden designer -
Tom Stuart-Smith
Garden designer -
Tom Stuart-Smith
Tom Stuart-Smith is an acclaimed landscape architect and nine-time RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal winner.
His work combines naturalism with modernity and built forms with romantic planting. He established his eponymous practice in 1998 and his work ranges from large gardens and parks, to smaller private gardens.
Tom’s work offers a rich, multi-layered experience, forging connections between people and place. He shares, “We all know that gardening has this enormous impact on the quality of people’s lives. Here is something that offers people hope, change and growth and has the capacity to transform the lives of patients with spinal injuries when they are most in need.”
Key design features
- Split into two distinct gardens that envelop the ward: a bright, ‘gregarious’ area for socialising with colourful planting and walls designed for seating - and an enclosed, contemplative space with soothing, muted planting and delicate birches.
- Unusual, wildlife-friendly plants and bird and butterfly boxes to encourage biodiversity.
- Layered and subtle planting featuring scented and tactile elements, airy grasses and leaf interest.
- Two water features by Studio Ewing creating mesmerising ripples across a granite slab with jets illuminating the water.
- A garden room and several brightly coloured pods for garden therapy and socialising, designed by Stephen Marshall Architects.
Garden team
Head Gardener Ashley Edwards is a Kew graduate whose profession has taken him to beautiful gardens across the world, including Longwood Gardens in the USA and the Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School in Sicily and Strawberry Hill House & Garden most recently. He is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time.
Ashley is supported by Garden Administrator, Tracey McCarthy, Arts Activities Assistant Lauren Fiszzon, and WFGA WRAGS trainee Lily Schlieker Blythe, along with a brilliant team of volunteers.
Thank you to our partners
Regional Partners:
Horatio’s Garden costs £100,000 to maintain per year.
Please consider donating to this garden to help us nurture lives for years to come.
Are you a beneficiary of Horatio’s Garden London & South East?
Before: London Spinal Cord Injury Centre at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital
Now: Horatio’s Garden London & South East at London Spinal Cord Injury Centre at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital
Find us
Horatio’s Garden London & South East
London Spinal Cord Injury Centre
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital
Brockley Hill
Stanmore
Middlesex
HA7 4LP
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