Gardening program helping friendships bloom between generations

Lyn Kirkwood spent more than four decades turning the backyard of her South Hobart home into a personal oasis, filled with colourful flowers, trimmed bushes and thoughtful ornaments.

But multiple surgeries caused the 72-year-old to become "more sedentary" and made the prospect of rummaging around in the soil somewhat daunting.

"Over the past five or six years, my gardening has dropped off because I've been a bit handicapped with these joint replacements," Ms Kirkwood said.

That all changed when she became involved with the Still Gardening program about 18 months ago, which paired her with a younger volunteer for fortnightly gardening sessions at her home.

Ms Kirkwood said having an extra hand every two weeks had helped to reignite passion for her "creative outlet" by providing valuable motivation.

Unlikely friendship blossoms

For the past six months, Ms Kirkwood has been paired with volunteer Lachlan Chisholm, and the two have bonded over their shared passion for painting.

"We talk about art, programs we've watched on television, sometimes politics will come up … we have a lot in common, actually," she said.

Mr Chisholm, 35, began volunteering for the Hobart City Council-led program about two years ago.

At the time, he was working part-time and thought he could spend the extra time "doing something good".

He said it had been "incredibly rewarding" and that he had gotten a lot out of the program, including a "surprisingly strong" friendship with Lyn.

"At the moment our conversation often goes to art, because that's something that we both enjoy doing in our spare time," Mr Chisholm said.

"I can tell her about the art that I've been working on, she can tell me about hers, and it kind of encourages me to go home and keep working on that in the background."

The volunteer said that as he no longer had grandparents around, his partnership with Lyn had helped provide a valuable intergenerational relationship.

How the program works

The Still Gardening program has been running for almost 20 years, providing seniors in the Hobart and Glenorchy areas with one-on-one support in their gardens.

Program coordinator Monique Brumby said the scheme aimed to help older people live "happier and healthier lives" by fostering social connection and giving them a way to stay active.

When clients become involved with the program, a gardening "working bee" with a group of volunteers is held at their home.

Ms Brumby said that session was then used to match the client with an individual volunteer, based on their common interests, experience in the garden and specific requirements.

The volunteer would then commit to working with the senior in their garden for at least one to two hours each fortnight.

"We've had some 'garden mates' that have been matched for 10 years, which is really lovely and you can imagine over the course of that time the friendship that grows is a very deep and rich one," Ms Brumby said.

Places for new clients are only available to those referred by My Aged Care, with spots currently closed until at least February. However, the program is on the hunt for more volunteers.

Ms Brumby said while it was great to get experienced gardeners, training would be provided to anyone brought in as a volunteer.

"It's obviously a great opportunity for people to give some time back to older people in their community to make their lives better," she said.

The program, run by the City of Hobart, has just received $400,000 in funding through the Commonwealth Home Support Program, allowing it to continue running for another two years.