With spring settling upon us, the snow is disappearing and the grass, trees and bushes are slowly coming back to life. As we prepare to see the blooms and get our gardens ready for the season once again, I started thinking about all the benefits of gardens and flowers. Everyone enjoys seeing flowers and gardens, but it truly is therapeutic and can help one’s physical and mental state. Horticulture Therapy is a successful therapeutic intervention to help people with both physical, cognitive, and emotional disabilities. It has been proven successful and has a wide range of benefits that are practiced all over the world!
To facilitate horticulture therapy, a TRS could start a community garden with several different plots for people to use or purchase. They then would plant in their lot, water and care for it, and then enjoy its products, whether they are flowers, vegetables or fruit! Each person could chose how they want to use and care for their garden, either planting seeds or buying flowers to transfer into their garden. Adaptive equipment may be used such as adapted gardening tools with longer or shorter handles than normal for easier use, or adapted handles that can strap on for people with weak hands who maybe cannot grasp the handle. There are also small benches that can be placed in the garden for people to sit on and work from if they cannot bend over for long periods of time. There are kneelers that can be placed on the ground and used for a similar purpose. Raised garden beds or containers can be used for people in wheel chairs to access as well. Some materials you would need to facilitate and therapeutic community garden would be hoses for watering, seeds, flowers/bushes/plants, tools such as spades, shovels, and hoes, watering cans and gardening gloves. Some precautions should be taken while facilitating this activity. Since it is an outside activity, some people may get too much sun exposer if outside for a long time or if they are sensitive to the sun. Sunscreen could be provided, along with water for water breaks, umbrellas for some shade, or suggesting they bring their own hats or sunglasses for additional protection. There should also be supervision out in the gardens in case anyone falls or gets hurt using any of the tools. Also, people should be available if people need any assistance with the tools or activities such as lifting dirt or watering cans.
Horticulture Therapy and a therapeutic community garden could be useful for many populations. The American Horticulture Therapy Association website states that horticulture therapy is very successful with hospitalized war veterans and has many mental benefits. It can be also very successful with elderly, the cognitively disabled, and even physically disabled by practicing motor skills with the tools and movements. Sensory stimulation can occur with flowers with different textures, smells and colors. The act of gardening can be peaceful, relaxing, and cause one to practice movements and body positions such as bending or standing that they need to practice. The benefits from gardening and horticulture therapy are endless and people of all abilities can enjoy this activity! http://www.ahta.org/content.cfm?id=history
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