SANDPOINT — Calling all gardeners, from beginners to experts alike.

A fall cleanup of the garden, located near Bonner General Health on the banks of Sand Creek, is planned for Saturday, Oct. 24. The annual event helps ready the garden for winter, clearing away debris and putting each area of the garden to bed to keep it a special place for the community, hospital officials said.

"Bonner General Health’s Community Healing Garden is a place of solace for those seeking peace or as a tranquil retreat in difficult times," Bonner General Health volunteer coordinator Kate McAlister said. "It also serves to honor and remember loved ones who are no longer with us."

Community members are invited to bring their gardening tools — rakes, shovels, tarps, gloves and other gardening supplies — and come to help out at the Healing Garden for the annual "Winterize the Garden Day." The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

"With a common goal, employees, residents and volunteers worked to create a place of healing, reflecting the surrounding natural beauty we enjoy here in northern Idaho," McAlister said.

Built on the hospital grounds in 2003, the Healing Garden borders Sand Creek, with plants of every variety tucked into corners and bordering pathways. Garden paths wind around this flower or that plant, 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.

Public art is scattered around the site: a metal-art tree where leaves immortalize the names of children; a large hand where the young or young-at-heart can perch for a moment.

The garden is a place of spiritual solace, designed as a retreat for both those visiting the hospital and those who work there. It offers both a place to reflect and to remember those who have passed.

"The Healing Garden needs your help," McAlister said. "The volunteer pool has been dwindling over the last several years and we are reaching out to the community in order to winterize the garden."

With the garden tucked away along Sand Creek by the hospital, many people often don't realize that the Healing Garden exists. From meandering pathways to hidden alcoves, and from a children's garden with fun and quirky sculptures designed to ignite the imagination, the Healing Garden offers peace and tranquility, a spot to heal both the mind and soul.

A private park that is open to the community, the Healing Garden is dependent on volunteers and donations, McAlister said.

"Many community members came through the garden this year and now it’s time to put it to bed for the winter so we can enjoy it next summer," McAlister said. "Young or old, solemn or joyous, in sickness or in health, the Healing Garden will wrap its arms around you."

Without volunteers and donations, the garden may not exist, hospital officials have said.

"The Healing Garden is 100% funded by donations and 100% maintained by volunteers," McAlister said.

To learn more about volunteering in the Healing Garden or to donate to keep the garden growing, go to bonnergeneral.org/the-healing-garden. If you would like to be part of the gardening team of volunteers, please contact Kate McAlister at 208-265-1159 or by email at [email protected].

    Sharon McCormick and fellow Bonner County Gardeners Association members work to winterize Bonner General Health's Healing Garden at a past event. This year's cleanup is set for Saturday, Oct. 24.