Ross Memorial Hospital - Kawartha Lakes
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Fifth annual Garden Challenge at RMH makes for beautiful battleground

The competitive quips are made in fun, but the efforts underway in the Ross Memorial Hospital’s flowerbeds are no joke.

For five years, the RMH Go Green Team has encouraged the various departments to ‘adopt’ one of the 18 gardens on the hospital grounds. The project is an effort to ensure the grounds remain beautiful yet cost-effective to maintain. It’s also a great way for staff to show some pride in their hospital.

Some employees bring perennials from home; others take a collection and purchase annuals for their department’s flower-bed. Each year, the challenge begins on Earth Day in April. The judging takes place in late June, with volunteer judges looking for the most sustainable garden, the most improved, the most dramatic, the most practical and useful, and the overall favourite.

The winner of the 2015 Overall Favourite watering can trophy is the Diagnostic Imaging team. Its garden, located outside the Emergency Department, provides a welcoming space for anxious patients and visitors. 

Diagnostic Imaging wins the 2015 Garden Cup

Other winning departments include:  most dramatic — Dialysis; most improved — Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) Volunteers; most sustainable — Health Records; most practical and useful — the Go Green team’s tomato garden (grown in RMH vermi-compost and Bokashi compost from food RMH waste, the tomatoes are harvested and used in the RMH cafeteria).

DI garden wins Garden Cup for overall favourite

“It’s amazing to see so many members of our staff spruce up our gardens, doing this all on their own time,” said Dr. Bert Lauwers, President and CEO. “Some do it because they find gardening a calming hobby, others because they know our patients enjoy the view. The Ross Memorial isn’t just a building. For many people, it’s a second home. We want everyone to be proud of our hospital — both inside and out.”

HELP volunteers' garden is most improved