Many of us have sat waiting in a hospital, anxious either over our own condition, or that of the loved one we accompany. And in such a state, how we would benefit from a place to relax and connect again with life outside medical matters. A garden, for instance. Instead, so often, the space outside the hospital or clinic is a grim place of wheelie bins, tarmac and parked cars. No solace there.
But for people with cancer, and their relatives, solace can now be sought at the ARC Cancer Support Centre, just across from the Mater Hospital in Dublin. On the inside, the recently-refurbished Georgian building is painted with gentle, organic pigments and is filled with light and warmth. And outside, a brand new garden has been created by members of the Irish Garden Plant Society (IGPS) and friends of ARC.
When IGPS member Janet Jeffrey first saw the long, skinny patch behind the house, it was clothed with bindweed and scutch grass through which seedling sycamores thrust. As her own mother had lost the battle with cancer within the previous year, she was keen to make a contribution to ARC, in her mother's memory. "So I went home and said to my husband, David, `Wouldn't it be nice if we could do the garden?' And he went to the IGPS and asked would they be interested in taking on this derelict site."
They were, and almost immediately another member, Paul Maher, came up with a landscape plan for the garden - a typical, inner-city plot, 30 metres long, seven wide, with very dry, limey, rubbly soil bounded by unsightly concrete walls. The plan is strong, unfussy and contemporary, setting out the garden in a number of geometric compartments. Modern paviors and wooden trellis delineate the design - and while it looks stark now, with the planting only just completed, before long climbers will creep over the trellis and walls, and abundant plant growth will soften the edges of the paving.
The area was devised as a "healing garden, a calm oasis behind the house", according to David Jeffrey. "It will be a place of rest and relaxation where people can sit and contemplate, or walk gently." It will be a garden with year-round interest, from the first bulbs in early spring, through to winter, when the red stems of dogwood and the coloured berries on numerous shrubs will brighten the short days. There will be scent from roses, honeysuckle, lemon verbena and herbs, and there will be the sound of water, splashing into a small, square pool surrounded by swaying bamboos and grasses.
And all of this is on the most challenging of sites: as well as having dry and difficult Dublin city soil, the garden faces north, with parts of it receiving practically no sunshine. The shadiest part, at the end, is backed by a tall brick wall which the climbing rose, `Iceberg' will stud with its white blooms. Originally part of a church, the wall still retains a gothic door, making an elegant focal point at the end of the garden.
In this shadowy part, the plants are restricted mainly to green and white: ferns, hostas, lady's mantle, Japanese anemones, arum lilies; even white-berried Skimmia `Kew White'. The `Trinity College' birch - which has the chalkiest of barks - is underplanted with luminous bulbs: snowdrops, Narcissus `Mount Hood', Crocus `Snow Bunting' and `Cream Beauty'.
In the middle of the garden, another tree, Gleditsia `Ruby Lace', has deep-bronze young foliage, and being resistant to pollution, it is well suited to a city atmosphere. In this section, where the light is a little better, most of the plants are blues, greys and golds. Near to the house, where it is brightest, there are lots of pinks and warmer colours, which are sure to draw visitors out into the garden.
As can be expected from a project which involves so many keen gardeners, there are at least 150 different plant varieties clustered in the borders and snaking up the walls. But none of these are sulky prima donnas requiring special diets or plush conditions. In a garden like this, which supports the ARC ethos of comfort and care, the plants have to be reliable and robust, and not faint away at the first sight of frost or drought. It is truly a place designed to serve the people who spend time in it. Hospitals and clinics, please take note.
The ARC (After-care, Research, Counselling) Cancer Support Centre is at 65 Eccles Street, Dublin 7. Telephone: 01-8307333.
The Irish Garden Plant Society is devoted to the cultivation, conservation and research of Irish gardens and plants. For details write to IGPS c/o The National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.