The Garden for Wellbeing concepts

The bison’s role as a keystone species on the prairies provided wealth and wellbeing, giving every part of its being to sustain and support the lives of others. Meat was used as food, the horns and bones were used for tools and hunting uses, the hides and fur as bags, blankets, coats, rivercraft hulls, shields and drums. Although historically these gifts were for sustenance, survival, and wellbeing, today many animals and plants from not only the prairies, provide gifts and medicines to help sustain the human realm and environmental health.

The concept explained

The bison as a keeper of wellbeing affords reflection and contemplation towards the gifts the land offers us every day and the further recognition and reciprocation it deserves.

The concept draws inspiration from the multifaceted use of the bison and artistic depictions of the bison's valued components. This concept envisions the garden organized into intimate rooms of wellbeing by using different scales and species of vegetative partitioning.

The layout of the garden follows representations of the bison’s valued parts and traditional uses, crafting different rooms of reflection, shelter, and warmth to feed the wellbeing of the garden’s visitors.

A central gathering node protected by the bison shoulder hump includes a multi-use bench/lounge/platform set into a prairie meadow mound with a wood bench and shade structure. A second gathering node is made of limestone block and recovered wood seating. Entry from the east passes through the bison head which features a central art piece and limestone block and recovered wood seating.

There are four reflection nodes. The first one is a mid-size space with greater privacy and features a wood bench mounted to limestone block, surrounded by planting with views of the river. The second and third reflection nodes are smaller, intimate spaces with large fieldstone boulder seating, a wood bench, recovered wood stump seating, and surrounded by planting with views of the river. Reflection node four features limestone block seating within a cluster of trees. This can be used as individual seating or as a group.

There are several pathways throughout the space; some are paved, some are compacted granular, and some are mulch.

This vision emerges as a spirit of the bison, drawing inspiration from the constellations of a bison head. In this vision, the bison head faces eastward where the sun rises, symbolizing the birth of new life, a new day.

The concept explained

Bison as spirit of the future mirrors the bison back to the blue sky and the dancing lights of the aurora borealis gifted to us just like our UM branding, gesturing beyond the human realm and mother earth.

The concept draws lineal connections between a grouping of stars representing the pathways and bridges to future progress. These lineal connections act to organize the vegetative rooms and the circulation between them with each star acting as an anchor point for the rooms of reflection.

The garden provides a place of reflection on our own inner spirit and wellbeing. It provides space for thought on how the impact of self, our communities and systems, and the human realm affect other beings and spirits beyond us, and the generations to follow us.

An elevated welcoming node surrounded by native planting and a tree canopy contains a wood bench and limestone block seating. It is connected to a main gathering node, which contains an elevated area providing views outward, limestone block and wood bench seating, large fieldstone boulders and a shade structure.

There are five reflection nodes. The first one consists of boulder seating and a stepping-stone path through plantings to the outer landscape. The second reflection node consists of a wood platform, individual seating and an intimate space surrounded by planting. The remaining three reflection nodes are clustered nodes for small groups, and contain a picnic table, wood bench, limestone block seating and access to the river’s edge.

There are pathways throughout the site, including some that are paved, some that are compacted granular, and some that are mulch, along with a wooden boardwalk and a log-edged path.

Please contact us if you would like to provide any feedback regarding the concepts of the Garden for Wellbeing.