A Place to Mend Hearts and Heal Minds

Footpaths and trails through the Moss Garden allow visitors to immerse themselves in natural beauty. Photo: courtesy of Bloedel Reserve
If you’ve ever used nature to calm your mind or heart, then you’ve experienced the underlying basis of the Strolls for Well-Being program at Bloedel Reserve.
Bloedel Reserve (Bloedel) is a 150-acre public garden and forest landscape near Seattle on Bainbridge Island. The vision and core mission of Bloedel is to offer “refreshment and tranquility in the presence of natural beauty” and to “enrich peoples’ lives through a premier public garden of designed and natural Pacific Northwest landscapes.”
Prentice Bloedel (1900–1996), a conservationist who worked in the timber industry and an early proponent of research into the positive effects of nature on human well-being, shaped the reserve for more than 40 years. Because of his commitment to the landscape, Bloedel is a testament to fostering a strong connection between people and nature. Prentice Bloedel once described the garden as a place where people could find solace, “a retreat where one can escape the daily pressures.”

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