Benefits of Horticultural Therapy

Have you or someone you know recently lost function and become disabled? Perhaps because it’s due to a car accident, perhaps you experienced a stroke, perhaps a back injury from falling. There are many ways to become disabled later on in life, even if we are not born that way. Though sad, disabilities don’t have to mean the end of your life. Certainly, when the change occurs later on in life, an adjustment period is necessary, and life as you know it won’t ever be the same. There are many therapy systems that can help disabled individuals regain their lost skills, whether these be endurance or balance related, or memory and socialization related. The amount of skills that can be restored through therapy vary greatly on a case by case basis, but there’s no reason for a disabled person to assume that they won’t regain what they’ve lost. In some cases, miraculous changes have occurred thanks to therapy; in other cases, while not miraculous, individuals have regained skills they previously thought they’d lost.

One of these therapies used by many a doctor and therapist is horticultural therapy. An innovative treatment that uses plants and plant-related activities to assist in the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, horticultural therapy works wonders on patients, utilizing gardens and greenhouses to create calming, therapeutic settings in which magic can be worked. A definite change of pace from more traditional therapies, such as physical therapy and occupational therapy, which, while necessarily, can be considered by many patients as painful, frustrating and promising little reward. Horticultural therapy allows patients to work on their individual goals. Whatever it is they want to achieve, they can focus on, in a warm, calming setting. As patients work with plants, they often improve their mobility, balance and endurance, as well as their memory and socialization skills. Perhaps more importantly, however, horticultural therapy enables individuals with disabilities to do these things without the pressure that is placed on them in more traditional methods of therapy.

Gardens and greenery have long been seen to possess calming qualities, and there are many individuals, both disabled and not, who swear upon their gardens and plants as stress-relievers. After a long, hard day at work, some people love nothing more than to go into their gardens, to relieve tension by yanking up weed after weed, to lovingly plant tomatoes and peas, arugula and dill. Herb gardens provide special pleasure to those living in cities, where real gardens aren’t often possible due to lack of green space. Both vegetable and flower gardens provide an explicit sense of pleasure to gardeners and those who work in them, even benefitting those without a green thumb.

Horticultural therapy helps to strengthen muscles and improve coordination, but does so in a calming setting that doesn’t place enormous pressure on the patient. Because they’re focusing on the garden and the plants they are working with or perhaps creating from scratch, they don’t think about the work they’re doing on their bodies. The distraction enables them to move forward in their therapy without explicitly thinking of it as therapy.

Horticultural therapy can be done both individually and as a group. Oftentimes, traditional therapists such as occupational, recreational, physical and speech/language therapists will enlist the help of horticultural therapists to coordinate activities that meet their individual patients’ goals. What does horticultural therapy involve, exactly? For many, it’s as simple as planting and starting seeds, or watering and repotting plants. Some prefer to work with fresh flowers, delighting in the beautiful myriad of colors that come together in perfect harmony when a great arrangement is made. Some enjoy drying and pressing flowers and using them later on for artwork (another great alternative therapy option), while others choose to work outside, weeding and planting larger plots of lands. Both inside greenhouses and outside in gardens, horticultural therapy helps disabled patients achieve their goals in a low-stress environment that encourages creativity and helps to foster calm, serene feeling.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing a little planting on your own time, when it comes to horticultural therapy, the work should be administered by a trained horticultural therapist who knows what they are doing and how to not overstress the muscles of a given individual. Horticultural therapists are trained to help their patients achieve specific therapeutic goals, whether big or small.

The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical advice. All medical information presented should be discussed with your healthcare professional. Remember, the failure to seek timely medical advice can have serious ramifications. We urge you to discuss any current health related problems you are experiencing with a healthcare professional immediately.

Erin Harding is a freelance writer who writes about a variety of health topics including horticultural therapy