Gardening for your health

A 2009 rainbow in Berwyn, PA - Photo by Joanne Taylor

Horticultural therapy is the practice of horticulture as therapy to improve human well-being. Horticultural Therapy first began in the 1790’s when patience worked in the gardens to pay for psychiatric care and doctors began to see improvement in these patients. In 1817 Friends Hospital in Philadelphia began the first gardening program for the mentally disturbed (1). Not long ago, the Friends Hospital of Philadelphia celebrated 30 years at the Philadelphia Flower Show teaching mental health benefits of gardening.  Dr. Benjamin Rush — a medical professor in Philadelphia who is often considered the first psychologist — noted in the late 18th century that field labor in a farm setting had a curative effect on mentally ill patients (2). In March 2009, The American Horticultural Therapy Association  announced that National Horticultural Therapy Week would be celebrated from March 15-21.  Philadelphia’s Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, part of the Jefferson Health System, joined in that week by raising awareness throughout the hospital about disability-friendly gardening and using horticulture as therapy.

According to the American Horticultural Therapy Association horticultural therapy is defined as “a process utilizing plants and horticultural activities to improve social, educational, psychological and physical adjustment of persons thus improving their body, mind, and spirit.” (3) The association reports that there different kinds of horticulture therapy classes such as Horticulture Therapy, Social Horticultural Therapy, and Vocational Horticulture. There are also different types of horticultural therapy gardens such as Healing gardens, Therapeutic Gardens, Horticulture Therapy Gardens, Restorative Gardens, Prevalence of Horticultural Therapy Programs and Healing Gardens, and Benefits of Horticultural Therapy and Therapeutic Gardens. 

 

Using elements of the garden to help and heal is not new or new age. Both Jesus, his disciples, and other great writers of the Bible used elements of the garden to help people solve their problems, heal, and find peace and hope.  They referred to vines and the branches (John 15:5), a fig tree (Luke 13-6-8), a well watered garden (Isaiah 58:11), a field of lilies (Matthew 6:28), soil (Matthew 13:3-23), weeds (Matthew 13:24-30), flowers (Isaiah 40-6-7), grass (Isaiah 51:12), seed (Matthew 13:31-32; Galatians 6:7-8; 2 Corinthians 9:6); harvest time (Matthew 9:37-38; Proverbs 20:4), roots (Hebrews 12:15); and even pruning (John 15:2). Other Great writers, thinker, philosophers, religious leaders and famous people have found gardening and nature to be medicine for the soul as well.

 

“Nature can do more than physicians.” Oliver Cromwell (1599 –1658), English military and political leader

 

 

 

 

 “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we only will tune in.” George Washington Carver (1864–1943), African American botanical researcher and agronomy educator

 

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einsten (1879-1955), German-born theoretical physicist. Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics.

 

 

“Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher.” William Wordsworth (1770–1850), English romantic poet

 

Gardening not only helps us emotionally, but also physically. There is power in plants. As for the physically challenged; a wide range of health problems (including emphysema, blindness, spinal damage, partial paralysis, and loss of a limb) may limit a person’s ability to perform garden activities that are taken for granted by them common gardener, but these conditions need not stop anyone from gardening altogether. The disabled gardener just has to discover a more suitable method of gardening.  Often people want to know what elements are needed to make gardening accessible to the handicapped. For those in a wheelchair, user-friendly tools are now available with short handles, for easier cultivating, weeding, and planting. There are many lightweight tools on the market that lessen the strain on your back, joints, and muscles. To reduce hauling, you can store heavy materials, such as potting soil, in wheeled trashcans. Tools can be transported in wagons, backpacks, or even in wheelchairs by way of a side attachment. For those who use walkers, canes, or wheelchairs, it is especially important to have smooth, nonskid ramps or paths that are wide, firm, and flat so they can have safe access to their gardens. Weeding and watering should be made to almost take care of themselves. Mulch and groundcover decrease the need to water and weed, and if you must water, sprinkler systems work best. If you need a hose, make sure it’s lightweight. Large planters that stand at least three feet off the ground–high enough to let you reach plants from a wheelchair are a must. Make sure you can wheel all the way around each pot and still reach its center. Raised beds with walls constructed of lumber, concrete blocks, or bricks can provide a seating ledge for you while you are working. Chairs and gazebos are a great addition for relaxing and admiring the world around you. A carefully thought out garden for the gardener with a physical disability compensates for his or her special interests, needs, and skills.

 

The Bible records that the first human was created in a garden (Genesis 2:8) and that the first occupation ever know to man was a gardener.  Genesis 2:15 says, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."  Gardening allows the cultivation of more than just plants; it cultivates your mind. Gardeners ponder questions, mull over decisions, and make plans. Each minute spent digging and weeding becomes a moment of contemplation. The garden encourages us to grow and maintain a part of the Earth, without complication from human outside influences. It allows the gardener’s mind to go to a place that only fellow-gardeners know; a place of solitude, peace, and accomplishment. Gardening brings freedom from life’s insanity because it’s where divinity meets humanity.

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