A Japanese garden opens inside a prison in Salem

(NOVEMBER 8, 2019) Many people believe that gardens can help to heal the body and mind. That is also the idea at a new garden in Salem. However, this garden is in a prison. It is in the Oregon State Penitentiary. It gives prisoners hope for a better future.

Hoichi Kurisu designed the garden. He is a famous designer of Japanese gardens, including one in Portland. The garden in the Salem prison opened this year. The garden has 13,000 square feet. It has a mix of plants from Japan and Oregon. 181 inmates volunteered on the project. It took 96 days to build. It cost about $500,000. The money came from donations.

Colette Peters works for the Oregon Department of Corrections. She told a story about the garden. She said an inmate was helping to build the garden. He heard a noise. He didn't know what it was. "And then he realized, it was the wind blowing through the leaves of the trees, a sound he had not heard in the 17 years he was incarcerated," she said.