Barclay Friends has six outdoor gardens, each with a different purpose.  The gardens are a major part of our nationally recognized Horticultural Therapy Program.**  Five of our gardens were developed through the generosity of individual and foundation donors.

Worth Garden is an intergenerational garden where residents and visitors of all ages can enjoy time together.  With a sandbox, toys, and a miniature cottage, Worth Garden helps children view a trip to Barclay Friends as a fun and positive experience and thus encourages them to visit.

Employee Star Garden was created in 2004 to give our employees, many of whom live in apartments, a garden of their own.  Tomatoes of all varieties were the most popular crop, though some employees tried lettuce, cucumbers, and radishes.  The garden continues to be a joy to the employees and a source of ongoing community building.

Helen’s Grove is for pure enjoyment, especially by residents of our Bradford community, who can see the grove from their windows.  This grove of trees contains many “memory trees”, given in honor of residents and staff.  Some of the trees were transplanted from the old Barclay on Church Street.

Anne’s Garden is what horticultural therapists call an “enabling garden”, specially designed to enable people with disabilities to work in and enjoy the garden.  The figure eight shape of Anne’s garden, for example, addresses the need of residents with dementia or Alzheimer’s to wander independently in a secure environment.  This aspect of the garden, along with the special plantings and a fishpond, has a calming effect on all residents.  To reinforce a sense of home, many plantings in Anne’s garden were chosen to remind residents of plants and flowers they saw in their mothers’ gardens.  Anne’s Garden is the site of Barclay Friends annual garden party, as well as many resident social activities.

Sidney’s Garden is a cutting garden, where flowers are grown to provide materials for our flower arranging program, in which residents design arrangements for the dining tables and public areas.  The garden also provides interesting vistas from resident rooms and public areas.  Volunteers assist our Horticultural Therapist in maintaining the Garden.

Ruth T. Cottom Garden is a place where residents can maintain their own raised-bed gardens. Everything from tomatoes to cotton is grown here and tended by loving hands.  Cottom Garden contains bird feeders, owned and operated by the residents of Woolman Assisted Living, as well as a butterfly garden.  The gazebo is a place for lively discussions and the entire garden lends itself to walks for meditation or exercise.

**Barclay Friends was presented with the "2005 Award for Excellence" by the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the American Horticultural Therapy Association "in recognition of your many contributions to Horticultural Therapy."