Horticultural Therapy in your Garden
The Power of the Flower at the Cedars Community
Amy Whelan, Head Garden Supervisor, has been incorporating horticultural therapy (HT) at 'The Cedars Textile Art Center' in Marin County, California for over sixteen years. She refers to the land as a “mini-garden of Eden.”
About the Cedars
Since 1919, the Cedars has provided a special community for more than 2500 individuals with developmental disabilities. In 1981, the Cedars Textile Art Center was created by founder and Program Director Connie Pelissero. Her dream was to combine her interests in textiles and special education. With the help of her longtime assistant Program Director, Denise Colwell, over 70 clients a day are provided with training and employment in textile weaving, organic gardening and animal husbandry on 21 spectacular rural acres.
The Garden at the Cedars
When you first enter the Cedar’s garden, traveling along the winding path down the hillside, you know you have just crossed the threshold to a sacred place. Fruit trees, roses, hollyhocks, iris, lavender, penstemon and various tall beans surround you. A sign reads “flowers are the laughter.”
Here new clients are taught how to make compost, grow seeds, water plants, weed, prune and nurture the earth. Many of these clients will go on to teach these same valuable skills to schoolchildren who come visit. The cycle of life is demonstrated here starting with compost, a seed, a flower, a wilted flower and back to the compost pile to begin again. This is an indispensable education for the clients and the visiting schoolchildren.
Horticultural Therapy in Action
"In the Cedars garden, clients of all ages ranging fro 20 to 80 years old use horticultural therapy to promote healing and learning," says Amy Whelan, head gardener. Working in the garden provides a positive sense of well being, problem solving, teaches new skills, social interaction and communication. Whelan sees the benefits from working in a garden first hand with her clients. “Everyone who enjoys gardening knows that working with plants fulfills basic human needs," says Whelan. "Through horticultural therapy, you can facilitate these benefits with people on many levels.” She explains the three main areas of horticultural therapy:
Social Development, psychological and physical.
- Social Development:
Gardening teaches new skills and vocabulary, helps people gain independence, helps them make new friends as they work cooperatively towards common goals and increases attention span and concentration in easily distracted individuals.
- Psychological:
Gardening meets nurturing need through taking care of living things (plants), encourages creativity, self-esteem and responsibility by project selection and design, and decreases stress, anger and aggressiveness.
- Physical:
Gardeners enjoy activities as they increase strength and range of motion using fine and gross motor skills. They also also have access to near limitless opportunities for year-round exercise and relaxation in serene garden settings.
“In the spring we have many school’s visit the garden," adds Whelan. "The children observe individuals with developmental disabilities teaching, working, planting and caring for a garden. There is an awareness of healthy eating and living. It's fun, beautiful and outdoors!”
The schoolchildren also visit the friendly sheep and goats, and the beautiful Angora rabbits whose cages sit upon the worm composting bin below them. The fruits and vegetables grown in the garden are used to serve homemade lunch to the 70 clients. The Angora rabbits are groomed daily by the clients and the fur is used in weaving.
Whelan adds, “Over the years I have observed and heard clients say things about the garden such as: increased happiness, it’s relaxing, interesting, there’s always something to do, productive, you can always see something growing and it’s a place that they are proud to be a part of.”
For more about the Cedars or to plan a visit or volunteer, call 415-454-5310
Cedars Garden Gate
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Cedar's Client
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