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Horticultural therapy in the news

This story reviews how hospice clients and families use the Heritage Gardens for  horticultural therapy. The garden is located on the campus of Lower Cape Fear Hospice & Life Care Center  in Wilmington, DE. The center has a number of gardens all with different characteristics and stimuli to interest the wide variety of people who come to the center.

This piece in the Staten Island Advance recounts the experiences of Eileen Torricelli, who is Garden Therapy Chairman for First District Federated Garden Clubs of New York State. It reviews the programs at the Community Resources main campus, group homes and pre-school in Richmond, Staten Island. The nice aspect about the piece and the center is the wide range of therapies used as well as populations served.

The integration of physical, occupational and horticultural therapy is the focus of this story about how gardening is being used at the Cookeville Regional Medical Center in Tennessee. The brainchild of a farmer who had a stroke and two physical therapists, a small courtyard was turned into a therapeutic gardening center. It has been so well received that the site is being expanded next year and a larger garden built.

Herb Haven is a vocational and gardening program targeted toward women and children striving to become independent. Its recent profile illustrates how horticultural therapy can be used not only to mentally heal people but also provide vocational training.

Horticultural therapy in the news

Last week my local newspaper ran this item about a group called Ability Beyond Disability. The group, which provides vocational training and employment for those with autism and other disabilities, purchased a rose farm that was going to close. It has started to sell its wares through a local supermarket, Stew Leonard’s, and plans to hire 25 people with autism and other disabilities at the farm.

Horticulture can have a powerful effect on those with autism, many of which suffer from movement and sensory difficulties. All the senses can be stimulated in a powerful and constructive fashion. The physical effort required provides a means of exercise and can be metered to the capabilities of any person. Touching plants, “smelling the roses,” looking at a variety of bright colors can evoke wonderful feelings and stimulate different senses. Working with others in a group makes the job more pleasurable and increases interactions and friendships.  But perhaps most important aspect of this type of work is that by having a job, those with autism can be successful and contribute in a positive way on their own. This gives them dignity and a great deal of increased self-worth, which are counter to a life that can be tightly controlled and managed. 

Here is a story about Thresholds, a Chicago-based group that uses employment-oriented horticultural therapy to help those with mental illness become more in tune with society. Thresholds has “a flower shop in the Loop that involves our members and horticulture therapy; I've seen some of the member there change from people who could not look at you in the eye [or get to work] turn into vibrant, terrific people who are now coming into their own,” said Thresholds board member Ron Grais.

And the Daily News writes about this school-yard program that gets local children into gardens to see how vegetables and other plants grow.

Horticultural therapy in the news

A couple of interesting stories making the rounds. Here is a profile with lots of  pictures of a wonderful horticultural therapy program in Atlantic City, N.J. that was facilitated by a $10,000 grant from Toyota. Beyond providing many of the calming and soothing  benefits of horticultural therapy, the program is also providing vocational skills to some students.

Another focuses on the healing powers of the garden in this story on Debra Radvany, who was diagnosed with cancer over 20 years ago. The experience of living with and beating cancer is very inspirational, with Debra’s time in the garden key to her healing and positive outlook on life.

And this article reviews a horticultural therapy program in Cleveland, Ohio, that helps homeless men  at Joseph’s Home. The newly planted therapy garden is just part of a comprehensive program that the facility runs to help men recover from a variety of health ailments.

What all these stories share is the empowering effect of gardens on people’s psyches and spirits. The effect of smelling a rose or sitting quietly on a bench listening to leaves rustle in the wind should not be under emphasized.