Horticultural therapy

- By Patricia Hanbidge

November 18, 2025

key points from this story:

• Horticultural therapy is a formal practice
• Programs focus on goals and outcomes
• Promotes physical and mental wellness
• Includes vocational, therapeutic, and wellness models
• Led by trained therapy professionals
• Nature improves quality of life

Many people when they hear “horticulture therapy” immediately think about gardening. It brings happy thoughts of sunshine, digging in the soil and the enjoyment of growing plants for beauty, for food and for the sheer enjoyment of gardening. However, horticulture therapy is a formal practice that promotes a natural sense of wellness. It is a recognized treatment modality that serves many purposes. The focus of horticulture therapy is on goal centred activities with defined outcomes that encourages participants to engage in the natural world around us. Plants are part of our natural world and have been an important part of life forever. Historically, plants have provided food, medicine and shelter while today they are often removed from our daily life. It seems that each day is not long enough to complete the necessary duties at home and at work so our leisure time has also been compromised. Our levels of anxiety, stress and impatience are rising and we look for instant fixes for all aspects of our lives. Perhaps what we should be doing is pausing, reevaluating our priorities and basically slowing down the merry-go-round of life. When was the last time you charged your personal batteries? Why not spend a little bit of each day doing some therapy - just for you? Maybe a little bit of plant based activity might be worth a try.

Any horticulture therapy program uses the natural world to improve life socially, spiritually, physically and mentally. Programs have a specific purpose and will consist of a vocational, therapeutic or just focus on wellness. Vocational programs will aid in helping participants gain the skills to find work, while therapeutic or more clinical models will help to gain the best function after an illness or injury. The wellness model often has a big focus on socialization and developing an overall improvement to all facets of life. Therapeutic horticulture is an approach within horticulture therapy that looks at promoting overall health and wellness.

In order to be an effective horticulture therapy program, the sessions should be facilitated by a trained horticulture therapy professional, who will assess client needs, the setting and design a program that is gauged to meet specific goals. The progress will be assessed using specific processes and procedures, involve documentation and should evolve to meet the needs of the client at each and every stage.

Horticulture therapy sessions have the ability to meet a variety of objectives and can deliver the program in a multitude of settings. Sometimes, the sessions may involve one client or may involve many depending on the needs and goals of each session. The most amazing part of using horticulture as therapy is that a lot of clinical equipment may not be necessary so programs can be offered with less cost and in simple surroundings. However, every session should always be planned appropriately to meet goals and allow assessment.

Last but not least, horticulture therapy includes nature in the treatment modality and this allows magical things to happen. The parallel process of human life and plant life is elemental and each has the ability to shape the other. For all of us, the ability to include plants, nature and the great outdoors whenever possible improves the quality of life for one and all. For many years, I have shared, taught and lived with horticulture therapy and encourage you to consider including horticulture therapy as an integral part of your life.