This May, the Stroke Association is excited to present our first ever show garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Sponsored by Project Giving Back, a charity that funds gardens for good causes, The Stroke Association’s Garden for Recovery embodies the belief that there are paths to recovery for stroke survivors. It is designed by critically acclaimed landscape designer Miria Harris, herself a stroke survivor.
“Stroke can change your life profoundly. It did mine,” says Miria.
In 2019, Miria was packing up her kitchen, ready for a renovation, when she suddenly started crying, then laughing hysterically. When she tried to speak, her words didn’t make any sense. “I didn’t know what was happening – I was scared and thought I was losing my mind.”
Miria went to hospital, where she was diagnosed as having had a stroke. “My speech was affected. The fatigue was like nothing I’d experienced before. And I had headaches that went on for ages – like I’d bruised my brain.
“My voice came back to me relatively quickly, but the stroke led to a discovery that I had a hole in my heart and needed surgery to close it. Carrying the emotional trauma of both these events will always be with me. There’s a whole new layer of vulnerability and anxiety in my life now that never existed before.
“In time I found my energy levels returned, but I still struggle with organising my thoughts. Sometimes my mind will go blank. It’s like you’re hitting a dark spot in the road. Then the lights are back on again, but you know for that second it was dark, there should have been a street lamp there.”
Miria’s garden design is inspired by her own experience and what she has learned from speaking to others affected by stroke – including survivors, carers, or people who’ve lost loved ones.
“Recovery is a long process. It’s definitely not as simple as just getting better. There are many ups and downs and bumps in the road. But, with support, there’s hope.
“The garden mirrors the Stroke Association’s purpose, to support every stroke survivor to achieve their best possible recovery. I didn’t know about the charity until quite late on in my recovery, and I wish someone had told me about them sooner. Part of the reason I want to do this garden is to raise more awareness of their work, so more people can get the support they need.
“With the Garden for Recovery, I wanted to design an immersive, calm and optimistic space to support stroke survivors and their loved ones. Somewhere for visitors to take time to stop, rest and reflect. A place for solitude or to connect with loved ones.
“After the disconnecting experience of stroke, rebuilding connections with the people and places I love and with nature has been hugely important to my recovery.
“I wanted to reflect that in the Garden for Recovery. You can feel the ground, hear the sound of water, see and smell the plants and feel connected, back on the ground after the out-of-body experience of stroke.”
Among the garden’s carefully chosen flora are several tall, twisted pine trees, which were rescued from a forgotten nursery field and nursed back to health. “The pine trees are the most important plant that I've chosen for the garden,” says Miria. “They're these incredible sculptural specimens, bent and twisted by the wind but still rooted firmly in the ground. To me, these trees are emblematic of the stroke recovery process - not straightforward or perfect. But possible.
“There’s no particular route round the garden. You decide which direction you want to take and when you're going to pause and take a breath. This is your recovery – you get to own that process.”
After the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the Garden for Recovery will be moved to its permanent home at the stroke unit at Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds. “I hope the garden will give stroke survivors the opportunity to reconnect with family, friends and even pets, in a way that might not be possible inside the hospital, where there’s only room for two visitors at a bedside,” says Miria. “It’ll give people a bridge to nature and a space to be together, which is hugely beneficial for recovery.”
For more information and support
We’re here to support everyone affected by stroke. Contact us on 0303 3033 100, helpline@stroke.org.uk or visit our support pages for information and guidance if you or someone you know needs our help.
You can also find out more about our garden and help raise awareness of stroke by visiting our RHS Chelsea Flower Show pages.
Stroke News magazine
This article is featured in the spring 2024 edition of our magazine, Stroke News. Subscribe to our future editions available in print, on audio CD, or via email.