“The idea for the healing garden originated with a landscape flower show exhibit in 2006 called Nature Nurture Mind Body and Spirit,” said Pauline Hurley-Kurtz, the professor who has been heading the project.

Students and faculty at Temple Ambler Campus are working on a new project called the Healing Garden. Comprised of a meditation and rain garden, the project has involved many faculty members and various classes to put it together. Hurley-Kurtz and her students have been working on the garden since 2006.

“The idea was really inspirited by Ernesta Ballard,” Hurley-Kurtz said.

Ernesta Ballard was a member of Temple University Ambler alumni and a founding member of the campus board of visitors. She passed away in August of 2005.

“She was very interested in healing gardens and labyrinths,” Hurley-Kurtz said.

The area is made up of a meditation garden which consists of a stone labyrinth and plants. The idea is to walk through the circles and feel at peace and relaxed. Classes at Ambler are in the process of soil testing and will start putting plants in the labyrinth this week.

“Every Thursday we’re working on some component of the garden with students, whether it’s soil testing, or stone work, or planting,” Hurley-Kurtz said.

The healing garden also includes a rain garden which captures water from the roof of Dixon Hall. The reuse of water is part of Temple’s sustainable initiative.

“On Sustainability Day in October we’ll be having a work session in the healing garden and also in the woodland gardens.”

The American Society of Landscape Architects will be in Philadelphia from Oct. 3 through Oct. 7, and will be taking a tour of Ambler.