Landscape Architect & Specifier News

MAR 2018

LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.

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164 Landscape Architect and Specifier News s t e w a rd s h i p Foster Design Associates LLC, a landscape architecture firm in Wichita, Kansas, provided pro bono design services to create a memorial peace garden on the campus of the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center in Wichita. Plantings included aromatic herbs (lavender 'Hidcote', mint, Rosemary, thyme and basil), perennials for color (e.g., 'Blue Chip' Buddleia, 'Happy Returns' daylilies, 'Dazzleberry' sedums, 'Alma Potschtke' asters), and plants meant to be touched: 'Lamb's Ears', 'Silver Mound' Artemesia and 'Big Blue' liriope. Landscape Architect & Specifier News (ISSN 1060-9962) is published monthly by Landscape Communications, Inc., 14771 Plaza Drive Suite A, Tustin, California 92780 Phone: 714-979-LASN (5276); Fax: 714-434-3862. Online version (ISSN 2150-9123). Copyright 2018 by Landscape Communications, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission. Periodicals postage paid at Tustin, CA and additional mailing offices. Subscription Inquiries: Send new or renewal notices or change of address (send both new and old addresses) to Landscape Architect & Specifier News, P.O. Box 1126, Tustin, CA 92781-1126. Subscriptions: Licensed/Registered Landscape Architects free of charge. Others, Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii & Canada: 12 issues, $34.95, 24 issues, $55.00, Mexico: 12 issues, $65.00 per year. Additional copies may be purchased by contacting LASN at circulation@landscapeonline.com or 714-979-5276 ext. 144. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Landscape Architect & Specifier News, P.O. Box 1126, Tustin, CA 92781-1126. Just north of Building 5 on the sprawling, bustling campus of the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas, a coalition of volunteers has created a small island of tranquility. It began as two trees in a patch of lawn, tucked between a building, a walled utility yard, and two busy entry drives. It is now the VA Memorial Peace Garden—a handicapped accessible therapeutic landscape that provides physical and emotional restoration through gentle sensory stimulation. The Peace Garden is a serene place, with trees for dappled shade, shrubs that screen the garden from traffic on adjacent drives, a small plaza with engraved remembrance bricks, a birdbath to attract feathered friends, and most of all, quiet paths with benches in nooks where people can sit and talk. It includes herbs specifically selected for their aromatic scents, and perennials like lamb's ear, so soothing to the touch that people spontaneously pet the leaves. Veterans and volunteers enjoy the simple pleasures of growing flowers and vegetables in raised beds near the garden shed, and reconnecting with the pace of seasons and growing things. Established through a collaboration of the Veterans Administration, community volunteers, and nearly 40 local corporate sponsors, the Dole VA Memorial Peace Garden has grown to become a cherished haven for veterans, visitors, and VA staff members. The Dole VA Memorial Peace Garden is a small green treasure, helping the VA fulfill its mission of "improving the health and well being of the veterans we are honored to serve." If you have a project where landscape architectural design services were provided pro bono, you can submit your Stewardship proposal to: stewardship@landscapeonline.com. Story Ideas? A Memorial Peace Garden for Wichita's VA Hospital By David W. Foster, PLA, ASLA, APA, Foster Design Associates LLC

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