LAKEPORT >> Springtime is here, along with a new Community Garden at Sutter Lakeside Hospital where patients, staff and community members can take some time to relax and unwind.
The garden, named “Soljourn” (“Sol” for sun and “journ” for journey), emphasizes native plants that require little water and that attract butterflies, birds and other natural wildlife. The garden also features abstract sculptures and will soon offer shade trees and a picnic table.
Sutter Lakeside Hospital Physical Therapy Director Joe Prisco proposed the garden idea. As he worked in the Mobility Park, the hospital’s new outdoor rehabilitation area, he thought it would be nice if more people could use and benefit from the outdoor space.
“It seemed like a great opportunity to create a restful, serene, healing environment where people could have lunch or just relax in nature,” Prisco said. So he approached Sutter Lakeside Chief Administrative Officer Siri Nelson, who heartily supported the concept. The Auxiliary also rallied and donated funds to make the garden a reality.
The next step was finding a volunteer with a green thumb. Prisco approached his friend Janet Berrian, a Kelseyville resident and retired middle school teacher who had just completed a master gardener course. She enthusiastically agreed and recruited another volunteer and master gardener, Heather Peterson.
“I was excited about the opportunity to create something beautiful, organic, native and drought-resistant that would attract pollinators for the health of the garden and our community,” Berrian said. “We also designed the garden with different surfaces so it can be used as part of the Mobility Park.”
Many hospital staff members and community members helped create the garden, from tilling the plot to planting, weeding and securing art.
“The garden was created by our community and is open to our community members,” said Prisco. “We hope people will come enjoy it with us.”
Sutter Lakeside is a not-for-profit community hospital that has a 65+ year history of serving Lake County. Any profits that Sutter Lakeside generates are reinvested into healthcare. To learn more about Sutter Lakeside, please visit www.sutterlakeside.org/.
