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Thousands of hours of labor were put into making Finnie's Garden a special place for all to enjoy.
Today with a greatly reduced resident population, community volunteers have stepped in, introducing Naturescape principals into the garden, and rebuilding the infrastructure
The garden features a large collection of Lilacs, along with smaller collections of Peonies, Hostas, perennial and annual flowers, and numerous fruit and nut trees.
The Friends of Finnie's meets at the garden from 9:30A.M. onward, on Thursdays and Sundays,
to continue the task of maintaining the garden as a sanctuary for all.
If you want to give of your time to help us in this goal, just show up, E-Mail a message
Everybody is welcome, see you there!
The beginnings of the garden
It all started on April,18,1951, when nurse; Arthur,"Art" Brian Finnie, who had previously been asked by Dr.Bruce Bryson to start a garden project.
Originally known as; "Farm View", This 2 acre plot of land located on the higher lands of Riverview Hospital, was a early start at horticultural therapy at the hospital.
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About Art Finnie
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| Art Finnie, at the official dedication of Finnie's Garden in May,1994. |
Dedication plaque |
Art Finnie worked on the wards at Riverview for 32 years from 1937 to 1969. In 1951, he received head injuries from a patient who was an ex-boxer, and took 6 months of sick leave at an outside job.
When he returned to Riverview, Mr. Finnie began an early form of therapeutic gardening with a group of mentally handicapped people who were patients at the hospital.
The testimony to the gardening coordinated by Art Finnie is the area now known as Finnie's Garden.
It was all cleared by hand, and patients built many stone walls for the terraces, also by hand. At one time there was a greenhouse and a log cabin.
The stone terraces remain, as does a large stone barbecue, a pond and a shed. The garden is a very special place because of the peacefulness and serenity of the setting and also because of the richness of its history and the evidence of incredible attention and effort which went into its design and construction.
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shed
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| Storage shed for our garden tools. |
Mural by:Gaye Mitchell and Laura Babak-Nagy |
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Torii Gate
Torii lead to a place of meditation.
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Washroom
A two stall washroom, with flushing toilets.
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shelter
A popular place to get out of the rain.
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The early days
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pond
The pond was built in the early 1950's.
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Bowling green
Not used anymore as a bowling green, but a great place for a picnic.
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Children Garden
A touchy, feely place for the kids to play in.
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Scented Garden
This part of the garden contains many scented types of plants.
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Woodland Garden
This garden has been planted with mostly native plants.
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Bird bath
Birds need to take a bath too.
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Pictures from around Finnie's Garden
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Airing Court
This area was used as a outside area where the residents, could get some fresh air, and sunshine.
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Hover
you clicked the O in hover
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