A UNIQUE Japanese garden at Okehampton Community Hospital designed to heal has become so neglected, one patient claims it is having exactly the opposite effect. Patient Hazel Preston says the Japanese garden looks so dreary it is making staff, patients and visitors feel depressed. ?Instead of being a disgrace, it could be an oasis of tranquility,? said Mrs Preston. She said the hospital had ended up with something that was ?inappropriate to the environment of Devon, inappropriate in design and inappropriate in terms of cost?. ?Patients don?t deserve this,? she added. The healing garden was created three years ago, when the hospital opened, and cost an estimated £30,000. Mrs Preston, 63, who lives in Okehampton and is severely disabled, has been receiving treatment in the hospital for the last three weeks. She said during that time, many visitors had commented on the depressing sight of the garden?s parched moss and distinct lack of bright colour. Dr Paul Nielson, who was instrumental in the vision to create the garden, said he believed its current poor state was a result of a decision taken by Mid Devon PCT?s estates department. The trust vetoed the use of an automatic sprinkler system to be used to water the garden as in its assessment this could increase the risk of an outbreak of Legionnaire?s disease. He said: ?Without the moisture needed the moss was always going to dry out. If we are not allowed a sprinkler system, the only way to resolve this would be to replant using hardy ground-covering plants. ?There was a lot of goodwill for the project. I looked after that garden for a year after the hospital opened. The PCT estates department said they would ensure the garden would be looked after, but they haven?t done that and I think it is shameful.? Nick Pearson, spokesman for Mid Devon PCT, said: ?The Japanese garden area was conceived as a relaxing diversion for patients undergoing treatment. ?Local volunteers put a great deal of effort into creating the garden and we are extremely grateful to them for this. ?However, an unusually hot summer, which includes the warmest July since early last century, means the garden is not looking its best at present.? He added that in relation to the sprinkler system, the use of resources was also an issue: ?Water comes at a cost and NHS resources are hard-pressed. The NHS wants to put money into patient care and has to make best use of that money.? He said the courtyard area to the rear of the hospital had recently been lovingly transformed by off-duty staff, especially for patients. A team of gardeners from Japan, led by the internationally renowned garden designer Mr Kasai, were flown in to create the garden which was heralded as representing a pioneering approach. The garden was praised by Prince Charles on a visit to the hospital in November 2004. Carer Margaret Cox, who visited Mrs Preston, described the state of the garden as ?disgusting and shameful?. She said the garden was ?something for the people of Okehampton? and she was ?sure there are lots of people in the town who would be prepared to come up here and tidy the garden up.?