Any gardener knows that spending time in a garden – in the fresh air with hands in the soil, birds warbling and insects buzzing and the scents of lavender wafting in the air – not only keeps one physically fit but soothes the spirit and brings new energy to the soul.

Building on this therapeutic aspect, health care professionals are finding ways to use gardening to promote healing.
Cathy Leavey, a registered horticultural therapist and past president of the Michigan Horticultural Therapist Association, studied horticultural therapy at Michigan State University. She distinguishes therapeutic horticulture from horticultural therapy.

“Therapeutic horticulture is basically people benefiting from plants because nature and horticulture are naturally therapeutic…what any gardener already knows through their own experience with nature. Horticulture therapy is about devising ways to use the gardening experience as a structured, therapeutic tool with measurable results.”

The first horticultural therapy (HT) program in this country dates back to 1798 when Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, observed that laboring in a farm setting had a curative effect on the mentally ill. In 1919, the Menninger Foundation established gardening and nature study as an integral part of their treatment program, setting a precedent for programs around the world. In the 1950s, MSU held the first workshops in horticultural therapy. In the 1970s, universities started to offer academic programs in horticultural therapy.

Today, health care professionals are rediscovering the benefits of horticultural therapy. With growing awareness of the limitations of technology, health care professionals are now willing to look outside the box. Horticultural therapy is gaining wider acceptance as it is used in conjunction with conventional treatments such as physical therapy, rehabilitative therapy, and psychotherapy.

In his book, “Gardening for the Senses, Gardening as Therapy,” Hank Bruce shows how HT can help those with a background of abuse and few positive role models. According to Bruce, HT teaches the value of planning ahead and setting goals, the experience of delayed gratification, the negative consequences of neglect, pride in success, reflection and self-discovery, and provides time to think about a future. Metaphorically speaking, patients can grow as well as the plants being cultivated.

In working with traumatic brain injury patients at Lansing Rehabilitation Services/Hope Network, Leavey uses HT to develop many skills. Mixing potting soils with hands and arms helps develop large motor skills. A patient who is trying to regain fine motor skills finds something as simple as using a mister on plants helps to regain use of the hand muscles.

Many of Leavey’s patients have experienced serious brain injuries due to automobile accidents. This often leaves a patient very susceptible to depression. Leavey relates a story about an exceptionally depressed patient whom the staff was unable to reach. The patient would lie in bed with his back turned toward the wall, shutting out the rest of the world.

Leavey decided to place a jar of lima beans on the windowsill next to the depressed patient’s bed. As the lima beans started to germinate, the patient became engaged. He was fascinated watching life sprout from these ordinary beans. By
observing this miracle of seed germination, the patient opened himself to further treatment.

Today, a wide variety of institutions are using horticultural therapy: hospitals, long-term care facilities, vocational schools, rehabilitation centers, correctional centers, educational institutions and residential centers for patients suffering from mental illness, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, drug and substance abuse, and sexual abuse.

The health care industry is now realizing what gardeners have known for years…getting a little dirt under your fingernails is good for the body and the soul.

Rita Henehan, an Advanced Master Gardener from Purdue University, lives and gardens in southwestern Michigan and is currently working on her first book, “The Michigan Gardener’s Companion,” due out in 2007. E-mail: rchenehan@voyager.net