For many, gardening is a form of therapy they’ve adopted into their daily routine. But moved into a more structured environment, one where progress is tracked and supervised by an experienced therapist, can make gardening an actual measurable therapy with quantifiable results.
A horticultural therapy program at the Vancouver General Hospital seems to be making headway towards validating the process. Studies have already shown that being able to view a garden or park helps recuperating hospital patients recover faster. Doing gardening work like planting, trimming branches, and prepping seeds–besides stimulating movement and coordination–also has a calming and stress-relieving effect on victims of stroke, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. Therapist Shelagh Smith adds, “It’s a lot easier to talk about end-of-life issues in a garden. You can talk about life and death and it feels more natural in a garden setting because you can see the circle of life all around you.”
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