SANDPOINT — Spring may just be underway, but the Healing Garden was blooming with activity Saturday as almost two dozen volunteers turned out to get the park ready for the season.

"It's such a lovely place," Bonner General Health volunteer coordinator Kate McAlister said as she watched the bustle of activity taking place from one end of the garden to the other. "It's all green right now but in a month or so it's going to be filled with color and that's what I love about the garden. It just makes you feel good. You walk in and it's an instant calm as the garden kind of gives you a big hug."

Saturday's volunteers included members of the Sandpoint High School Interact Club and seasoned gardeners who have been volunteering at the garden for years. Some have lived in the community all of their lives, while others have just moved to town.

What they all have in common is a desire to help the garden shake off the last of the winter debris and get ready for the season.

Some raked leaves and other debris from pathways and garden beds. Others pulled weeds and added a layer of mulch to the garden's 14 zones. One volunteer has pledged to care for the garden's roses, while another is working with the hospital to get its centerpiece waterfall fountain up and running.

Others, like Amelia Boyd, became involved through the Bonner County Health Foundation and were quickly hooked on the beauty and tranquility of the site. Sharon McCormick, one of the garden's founders, remains active and often brings daughter Deanna Harris along.

"It means legacy," McAlister said. "It means all those wonderful women who came before and worked in the garden. And I say women purposely because it was women who put this all together and it just expanded after starting up near the front."

Built on the hospital grounds in 2003, the Healing Garden borders Sand Creek, with plants of every variety tucked into corners and along pathways. Garden paths wind around flowers and plantings, under a trellis or past a waterfall. Benches are tucked along the strolling paths, where the noise of downtown Sandpoint falls away, giving way to the sounds of the creek or birds chirping nearby.

The garden is a place of spiritual solace, designed as a retreat for both those visiting the hospital and those who work there. It serves, Bonner General Health officials said, to give the living a place to reflect and a place to remember those who have passed.

It also offers comfort or a quiet moment to pause before returning to the busyness of the day. Rather than a stuffy formal garden, the Healing Garden is natural and welcoming.

The strong turnout of volunteers is a blessing, McAlister said, helping ensure the garden blooms as it heals the souls of those who visit.

"It's tranquil and there's a safety, too," she said. "You feel safe. It's like, 'OK, I'm going to be all right.'"

That tranquility and peace are what attracted Heidi Rickert to the garden after the loss of her son in 2004. The peacefulness helped her heal, she said in between weeding, raking and other gardening chores during Saturday's effort.

"I was coming to the garden all the time to feel better and it soothed my soul," she said. "And then I had the opportunity to work in it and I've been coming to help ever since."

At first it was a few days, then a few more, and now, Rickert said, it has become a big and treasured part of her life.

"I love gardening, so that's part of it," Rickert said, adding that she also values connecting with fellow volunteers. "And the other part is that it feels so soothing to be here."

While the garden was initially created as a place for doctors and nurses to decompress, it has blossomed into far more. Located just behind Bonner General along Sand Creek, it offers solitude for those seeking quiet reflection, as well as space to eat lunch or pause from the rush of the day.

A stone chapel — open during the summer — offers a place to pray and reflect, while a tea house provides a quiet perch along the creek to take in the vibrant colors of summer. A children's area features a tree house, a large stone hand bench and a few whimsical hippos, inviting laughter and play. A tree tucked along the back offers a space to add hearts honoring loved ones who have passed, as does a memorial wall.

"The volunteers coming out to help really means everything," McAlister said. "This is such a place of solace for many."

Near the garden's entrance, a small table and chairs sit beneath a weeping willow, welcoming visitors. Stone bunnies and other critters are scattered throughout the garden, while arbors line walkways that meander through the grounds. In summer, heavy with roses and blossoms, they evoke the feeling of walking through an Impressionist painting.

"It's just a little oasis in town that nobody really knows about," McAlister said.

Rickert agreed, encouraging others to visit and volunteer.

"I'm just really thankful for the people that started this garden in the beginning. I really am," she added. "It's changed so many people's lives for the better, even if it's only for the 20 minutes that you come in, it still feeds your soul. And I think it's done that for hundreds or thousands of people."

A private park open to the community, the Healing Garden depends on volunteers and donations, McAlister said. The garden welcomes additional volunteers and donations to fund new plants, mulch and soil to remain self-sustaining.

Those interested in volunteering can contact McAlister at 208-265-1159 or by email at [email protected].

Donations can be made through a collection box near the garden's entrance, online through the hospital's website, or by check to Bonner General Health with “The Healing Garden” noted in the memo line. Checks can be mailed to Bonner General Health, 520 N. Third Ave., Sandpoint, ID 83864.

    A volunteer weeds near the entrance to the Healing Garden during Saturday's spring cleanup party.
  

    Volunteers work in the Healing Garden on Saturday during Bonner General Health's spring garden cleanup.
  

    Volunteers work in the Healing Garden.
  

    Volunteers work near the entrance to the Healing Garden.