May 12, 2015

Landscape Ontario Otium Garden at Canada Blooms 2015

Landscape Ontario invites you to enhance your lifestyle — outdoors!

Beyond beauty, gardens promote healthy lifestyles. Visitors to the Otium garden are inspired to get active, since exercise is much more enjoyable in nature. An otium is an area for outdoor exercise and leisure; the idea comes from the ancient world. Landscape structures, paving patterns, a climbing area and other features are all designed to invite activity. After the festival, garden components will be installed outdoors at Toronto’s St. James Town community. With the Otium Exercise Garden, Landscape Ontario continues its commitment to Green for Life, inviting all to enjoy healthier lifestyles, outside.

The Landscape Ontario Otium Outdoor Exercise Garden is a socially responsible garden.
  • It promotes outdoor exercise to improve health and well being
  • The Otium concept rethinks the way our society exercises by taking exercise outdoors and reconnecting people with the landscape
  • It demonstrates how fitness can be accessible and affordable to all.
The concept is unique in that the landscape features themselves are used as exercise equipment.

Retaining walls are used for stepping, jumping, and balancing, paving patterns in patios and walkways are markers for cardio exercises, and overhead structures such as arbors and gazebos contain bars and brackets to support various suspension training systems to lift one’s own body weight.

Contemplative areas provide opportunities for stretching, yoga, and meditation. One of the interesting features of the LO Otium is that it includes a wheelchair work out. The garden is programmed to accommodate a range of exercises that can be undertaken by people of all fitness levels.

Get inspired with outdoor fitness at the Landscape Ontario Otium Outdoor Exercise Garden.
 
plank in the garden Yoga in the garden Climbing wall
 
 

Garden Contributors

Brydges Landscape Architecture Inc. www.brydgeslandscapearchitecture.com
Creative Concepts mike.creativeconcepts@gmail.com
Edengrove Landscapes Ltd. edengrove.ca
Dean McLellan Stonework deanmclellanstonework.weebly.com
Entire Landscapes Inc. www.entirelandscapes.com
Floristerra Greenhouses and Landscape Centre floristerra.ca/home.html
Turf Care Products Canada Ltd. www.turfcare.ca
Illumicare Group Limited www.illumicaregroup.com
Garden Retreats Inc www.gardenretreats.ca
Highland Design Builds Ltd. www.highlanddesignbuild.ca
Patrick Callon Landscape Designer Inc. www.patrickcallon.com
John Bland Stonecraft jbstonecraft.com
Premier Landscaping & Design Ltd. www.premierlandscaping.ca
Ground Effects Landscapes Inc. groundeffectsinc.biz
Lee’s Landscaping www.leeslandscaping.ca
Saugeen First Nation #29 www.saugeenfirstnation.ca/index.php
Shawn Gallaugher Design gdesign.ca
Thomas Custom Masonry  
Wentworth Landscapes wentworthlandscapes.com
Landscape Design/Ryerson University www.ryerson.ca
Fanshawe College www.fanshawec.ca
Whistling Dwarf Stonework www.whistling-dwarf-stonework.com
 
 

Garden Sponsors

Beaver Valley Stone Ltd. www.beavervalleystone.com
Boot’s Landscaping & Maintenance Ltd. www.bootslandscaping.com
John Deere Landscapes Ltd. www.johndeerelandscapes.ca
Shawn Gallaugher Design http://sgdesign.ca
Sport Court Ontario www.sportcourt.ca
The Toro Company www.toro.com
TUFX-FORT Inc. www.tufx-fort.com
Unilock Ltd. www.unilock.com
Upper Canada Stone Company Ltd. www.uppercanadastone.com
 


 

Teardown Team

Crewson Corners Landscaping and Home Maintenance  
Crystal Lawn Care www.crystallawncare.ca
Dreamscape Landscaping www.dreamscapelandscaping.net
Edengrove Landscapes Ltd. www.edengrove.ca
Entire Landscapes Inc. www.entirelandscapes.com
Floristerra Greenhouses and Landscape Centre www.floristerra.ca/home.html
Garden Retreats Inc www.gardenretreats.ca
Ground Effects Landscapes Inc. www.groundeffectsinc.biz
Highland Design Build Ltd.  www.highlanddesignbuild.ca
Illumicare Group Limited www.illumicaregroup.com
Landscape Ontario London Chapter members  
Shawn Gallaugher Design gdesign.ca
Turf Care Products Canada Ltd. www.turfcare.ca
Wentworth Landscapes wentworthlandscapes.com
 
 

Volunteers

Brian Bailey, Evan Bailey, Jason Beatty, Mike Bilotte, Matt Binns, John Bland, Gerald Boot, Ryan Bosscher, Menno Braam, Paul Brydges, Connie Cadotte, Alex Calero, Patrick Callon, Ken Davies, Jen Dodson, Nathan Drumm, Jeremy Feenstra, Brian Ferreira, Matt Ferreira, Steve Ferreira, Jared Swavlng, Ang Fry, Shawn Gallaugher, JP Galle, Kara Gibbons, Keith Heaton, Steven Hernandez, John Higo, Barry Hordyk, John Hordyk, Scott Jackson, Richard Jacobs, Kate Jonkman, Sean Kampen, Shannon Kellerman, Darren Kimewon, Ryley Koebel, Tim Kraemer, Jon Laurin, Andre Lemieux, Justine Lodder, Josh McCarthy, Dean McLellan, Mike Melo, Damian Morello, Joe Morello, Jim Philip, Daniel Pigeon, Jon Pink, James Riddell, Ronnie Ritchie, Robyn Saunders, Doug Silk, Scott Sim, Dale Thomas, Dallas Thompson, Mike Voortman, Andrew Wilson
 

Students

Amanda Armstrong, Elizabeth Birks, Laura Cascagnette, Diane Chesla, Alex Dela, Anina Frick, Sara Hopkins, Chadwick Huggett, Anzi Hui, Karen Keay, Stacey Kirkbride, Jessica Munroe, Ana Reim, Ricardo Terra, Toshio Ushioguchi - Pigoit