National Horticultural Therapy Week is being held this week,  from March 15 to 21 and focuses on the practice and profession of horticulture as therapy. The American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA), it”s members and everyone who want to host an horticultural therapy event or site visit can participate. Consider getting involved in your community – host an event that can promote horticultural therapy and therapeutic gardens on a local level as well as bring attention to horticultural therapy across the nation.

AHTA is a champion of barrier-free, therapeutic gardens that enable everyone to work, learn, and relax in the garden. Horticultural therapists are skilled at creating garden spaces that accommodate people with a wide range of abilities. People with physical or mental disabilities benefit from gardening experiences as part of HT programs, and they learn skills, adaptations, and gardening methods that allow for continued participation at home.

Some techniques include:

• Constructing wide, gently graded wheelchair accessible entrances and paths.
• Utilizing raised beds and containers
• Adapting tools to turn a disability into an ability
• Creating sensory-stimulation environments with plants selected for fragrance texture and color
• Utilizing accessible greenhouses that bring the garden indoors for year-round enjoyment

To learn more about the Horticultural Therapy Week and the profession of Horticultural Therapy, visit:

http://www.ahta.org/events/htweek.cfm

Horticultural Therapy Program at Medford Leas