Enriching Lives Through Therapeutic Horticulture
All of us who work in the garden appreciate how it can enhance our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. With a variety of hands-on activities, the Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Therapeutic Horticulture Project is bringing these benefits to groups of underserved people in the Charlottesville-Albemarle County community, helping to improve their quality of life and elevate their interest in nature and environmental stewardship.
A prime example is our work with the Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA). At their Respite & Enrichment Center (REC), Master Gardeners created an outdoor sensory garden in 2021 to stimulate attendees’ senses and memories and to add camaraderie and purpose to their lives. REC members are mostly seniors with one or more disabilities. It is a racially and ethnically diverse group, spanning the socio-economic spectrum.
Over the past few years, Master Gardeners and REC members have worked together to transform a neglected, weed-infested area into a lovely garden space filled with native plants and other perennials and herbs. Members enjoy weeding and adding soil to the beds, and many take pleasure in sharing memories of gardens they once tended.
Master Gardener Ann Wenneson leads an activity on forcing branches to bloom. Above, Master Gardeners Ann Wenneson, Fern Campbell, Sheila Balian, Josie Taylor, JoAnne Weaver, Camille Keely, Eileen Beiter, and Margaret Brown set out materials for the session.
In 2024, PMG offered 17 twice-monthly sessions and two special activities at the REC. These included an indoor nature bingo game, which provided an opportunity to learn about common plants and animals, and a scavenger hunt in the garden. “All of us are happy to share our love of gardening with these individuals,” said site coordinator Susan Seidler. “Experiencing their joy when joining us in the garden is priceless.”
Another Master Gardener team offers monthly therapeutic horticulture sessions at the Mary Williams Community Center, an adult day care facility at JABA. Clients there include about 25 lower-income, older adults who may not be as mobile and energetic as they once were but who are enthusiastic about participating in our projects.
Our activities there are designed to provide improved quality of life and to help refresh memories about nature, gardening, and the outdoors. Projects in 2024 included tomato tasting and judging, herb planting in outdoor planters, an outdoor scavenger hunt, and succulent planting in teacups the clients got to take home. The dried floral arranging activity held in fall was especially popular, according to PMG’s site coordinator, Ann Wenneson.
“It gave them a chance to select their vase and choose from a variety of foliage to arrange and to learn about dried plants,” she explained.
Our first project there in 2025 showed our clients how to force flowering branches to bloom. They were able to pick a vase and choose from a variety of branches to create floral designs to take home. In the process they learned about various shrubs and trees.
The American Horticultural Therapy Association has designated March 16-22 as National Horticultural Therapy Week. Its purpose is to raise awareness of therapeutic programs like ours that use plants and nature-based materials to add moments of delight and enrichment to people’s lives.
Prepared by Master Gardener Josie Taylor