The Role of Legacy Gardens in Dementia Care

For individuals living with dementia, maintaining a sense of connection and purpose can be increasingly difficult as cognitive abilities decline. 

Yet, creating a legacy garden—a space where memories, values, and traditions are rooted in the earth—offers a powerful way to preserve personal identity, foster emotional well-being, and create a spiritual connection.

Whether at home or in a care facility, a legacy garden can become a meaningful symbol of a person’s life, values, and spirituality.

Creating legacy gardens as living spiritual connections not only provides an opportunity for individuals with dementia to engage with nature but also offers a profound way to connect with their past and their loved ones.

These gardens can become a site for personal reflection, offering a place to revisit important memories, engage with familiar rituals, and cultivate emotional healing.

Legacy gardens are more than just a horticultural project—they are a spiritual journey that nurtures both body and soul, fostering peace and continuity.

Using tools like Evaheld, families can document and share the creation of their loved one’s legacy garden, preserving the emotional and spiritual significance of this deeply personal project.

Why Legacy Gardens Matter in Dementia Care

According to Advance Care Planning Australia, legacy gardens have multiple emotional and psychological benefits, particularly for individuals with dementia:

• Nurture emotional health: Gardens are known for their calming and therapeutic effects. Engaging with nature helps reduce stress, anxiety, and agitation, all of which are common in dementia care
• Provide a sense of continuity: A legacy garden allows individuals to remain connected to their personal history, spiritual beliefs, and family traditions, even as cognitive abilities decline
• Foster a sense of purpose: Gardening tasks such as planting, watering, and tending to plants give individuals with dementia a meaningful activity that promotes engagement and a sense of achievement
• Encourage reminiscence: Working in a garden can trigger memories of past events, family traditions, and spiritual practices, offering a way to revisit cherished experiences and reinforce identity
• Promote spirituality: A garden can be a spiritual space, offering a place for reflection, prayer, and connection to nature, which many people with dementia find deeply comforting

Dementia Support Australia emphasizes that person-centred care should involve meaningful activities like gardening, which nurture the spiritual and emotional well-being of individuals with dementia.

How Legacy Gardens Serve as Spiritual and Emotional Anchors

Creating a legacy garden allows caregivers and individuals with dementia to cultivate not only plants but also a deeper connection to life’s spiritual and emotional essence.

Here’s how legacy gardens can play an essential role:

• Spiritual grounding: Gardens can become spiritual sanctuaries, offering a peaceful environment where individuals can engage with their beliefs, reflect on their life, and experience solace
• Emotional healing: The act of planting and nurturing life can promote emotional recovery, offering a symbolic way to grow through challenges, much like the plants in the garden
• Memory preservation: Gardens can serve as a living tribute to the person’s past, including plants or elements that have special significance, like a favourite flower, tree, or plant that reminds them of a loved one or place
• Connection to family: Legacy gardens can become family projects, where multiple generations come together to create a space that reflects shared values, traditions, and memories

Family Legacy Series encourages families to incorporate legacy gardens into legacy projects, using the process as a way to foster emotional bonds and preserve the spiritual connection across generations.

Step-by-Step: How to Create a Legacy Garden

1. Choose a Meaningful Location

The first step in creating a legacy garden is choosing a location that holds meaning for the individual:

• Personal space: Create a garden in the person’s home or garden, allowing them to easily connect with it daily
• Care facilities: For individuals living in care settings, work with staff to create a small garden area that is accessible and safe
• Spiritual setting: Choose a location where the person feels connected to nature, allowing for quiet reflection, meditation, or prayer

Evaheld helps families document the garden creation process, ensuring that the emotional significance and spiritual connection of the garden are captured for future generations.

2. Incorporate Personal and Spiritual Elements

To make the garden truly meaningful, it’s important to include plants and features that reflect the person’s life, beliefs, and values:

• Favourite flowers or plants: Include plants that hold sentimental value, such as flowers or herbs that were important to the individual
• Religious symbols: If the person is religious, consider incorporating spiritual symbols, such as a cross, prayer flags, or a stone with an engraved spiritual quote
• Memory stones: Add personalised markers, such as engraved stones or plaques, that highlight key life events, achievements, or favourite sayings
• Trees and shrubs: Plant trees that symbolize growth and life, representing resilience and enduring legacy

Advance Care Planning Australia encourages the integration of personal values and cultural traditions into care plans, ensuring that spiritual practices and memories are honoured.

3. Involve Family and Loved Ones

Legacy gardens are an excellent opportunity for families to come together and share the joy of creating something meaningful:

• Collaborative project: Invite family members to contribute to the garden’s creation, whether by planting, sharing stories, or helping with design
• Generational involvement: Engage multiple generations, allowing younger family members to learn about the person’s legacy and the importance of food, culture, and spirituality
• Create a memory wall: Incorporate a wall or corner in the garden where family members can add photographs, quotes, or special mementos that commemorate important moments in the person’s life

Online Will Blog recommends that families create intergenerational legacy projects, where the younger generation learns about the values and traditions passed down by their elders.

4. Establish a Routine of Reflection and Care

Incorporating the garden into the daily or weekly routine of the care recipient and caregiver can ensure it remains a meaningful part of their life:

• Routine care: Encourage the person to engage in routine garden activities, such as watering, pruning, or simply spending time in the garden to reflect
• Spiritual connection: Use the garden as a space for meditation, prayer, or contemplation, allowing the person to connect with their spirituality
• Memory sharing: Encourage family members to visit the garden and share memories, creating new traditions of family reflection and connection

Dementia Support Australia suggests that incorporating regular routines like gardening into dementia care helps reduce anxiety and promotes emotional stability.

Supporting the Sandwich Generation

For adult children managing caregiving duties:

• Evaheld enables families to document the creation of legacy gardens digitally, preserving memories and spiritual reflections for future generations
• Use digital tools to share garden projects and personal reflections with extended family, helping to foster connection and understanding across the family

Family Legacy Series encourages families to include legacy gardens in their care plans, ensuring that the person’s spiritual and emotional needs are met throughout the dementia journey.

In Residential and Home Care Settings

Ensure carers:

• Are trained to integrate legacy gardens into the care plan, allowing individuals with dementia to engage in meaningful and spiritual activities
• Incorporate the care recipient’s preferences into the design of the garden, ensuring that the space is personal, comforting, and accessible
• Use the garden as a space for spiritual reflection, reminiscence, and family bonding, providing moments of joy and connection for both the person with dementia and their loved ones

Dementia Support Australia provides guidance on how to integrate legacy gardens into dementia care settings, ensuring they are a central part of emotional well-being.

Final Thoughts

Creating a legacy garden is a powerful way to preserve an individual’s spiritual connection and legacy in the context of dementia care. These living spaces offer a peaceful environment for reflection, growth, and remembrance, fostering a sense of continuity and purpose for the person with dementia.

By incorporating personal values, family traditions, and spiritual elements, caregivers can create a meaningful environment where both the person and their loved ones can find peace, healing, and connection.

With Evaheld, families can document and share the creation of their legacy gardens, ensuring that these spaces remain a central part of their loved one’s care and legacy for generations to come.