Therapeutic Horticulture
We use 'garden therapy' as a shorthand term for therapeutic horticulture. Gardens and plants have a long history of being associated with healing. And, how we as humans respond to the natural environment dates all the way back to our earliest experiences as hunter gatherers. At Rugged Weeds, we use gardening to connect the ties we have as humans with nature to for improved health, working in small groups.
Medical value
Societies have used plants for their medicinal value since ancient times. Drugs like aspirin were originally derived from the salicyclic acid in plants. In the middle ages in Europe, herbalists wrote medical guides on the use of plants. Oxford University established botanical gardens in the 1600s to strengthen the medical faculty. And in China, medical writing and herbal traditions go back even further to the Zhou dynasty, 3,000 years ago.
In culture
Culturally, plants have played important roles in society. At the most trivial level, we celebrate with a tree at Christmas and carve a pumpkin for Halloween. Petals are thrown at weddings and a corsage worn to the prom. But as far back as Neanderthal times, flowers and seeds were buried with human remains for the next life. In our grief groups, planting new plants gives hope for tomorrow and the seasons have a wisdom that words don't offer.
Wired for nature
The human sciences have researched how as humans we succeeded as a species because of how we paid attention to our natural surroundings. The plants and trees shaped their decisions on food, shelter, and survival. Although modern man is surrounded by concrete, the intuition learned at a cellular level over millenia still affects us today.
Psychological research has found we feel less stressed when viewing scenes of green nature than urban settings of buildings, trees and traffic. A walk in the woods can reduce blood pressure and provide a sense of peace. These studies have shown that positive human responses occur across social, economic, and cultural boundaries.
Therapeutic horticulture
We use gardening as a vehicle to help the groups with which we work to learn skills that they can then use on their own journeys for improved mental and physical health. Gardening gets us bending and moving. Tasks like planting seeds and sticking cuttings are simple, yet with the right context, can teach mindfulness. We work with our groups to help them grow and our garden is our partner in this process.
Workshops will be led by Norman Smit, a keen gardener who spent a large part of his youth growing up on a farm in South Africa, has a graduate degree, and horticultural therapy qualifications from NC State University.
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We have several types of offerings:
- Extended program
- Short Workshops
- Topical Workshops
Extended program
In the extended program, we work with small groups of people for an extended period ranging from early spring at the end of February, to fall in late November. The groups may be as large as 8 people, meets weekly, and lasts on average around two hours. The extended program provides the group with a way to experience a full range of growing, nurturing, maintenance, and harvesting activities and also a way to develop friendships and build a support network in a relaxed, no-pressure environment. Groups usually comprise individuals with some common or shared experiences, like military veterans. Scheduling of extended program sessions is typically on weekends because of the time commitment, but can be during the week if it is convenient for all.
Short Workshops
Our short workshops are single-day events lasting 2-3 hours on average and with a singular focus such as a skill or interest, such as herb drying, herb tinctures, making biochar, and others. Depending on the nature of the activity, group sizes range from 8-16 people. Group composition is usually ad hoc, with invitations to sign up online. We also work with organizations to offer workshops to their members. If you have a group and would like us to offer a workshop tailored to your group, please contact us.
We offer workshops during the week and on the weekend.
Topical month-long Workshops
These workshops provide sufficient time to begin to deal with a specific topic or subject area. Groups of up six people meet once a week for 4-6 weeks to work through a range of topics, skills and therapeutic concepts to address a particular topic or need. Examples include our Grief group workshops, Mindful gardening workshops, ADHD groups and others. In these instances, we use therapeutic horticultural methods to better equip attendees to manage the loss of a loved one or gain skills and tools to better manage a mental health issue or improve their lives.
For a full list of our workshops, please click on the button below.
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This workshop provides a series of 2-3 hour sessions on successive weekends in which we use therapeutic horticulture - gardening therapy - to help participants better manage grieving. It is for people who have experienced the death of a spouse, child, sibling, close partner, or lifelong friend. It is not for people who have experienced other loss, like a divorce, or death of a pet.
Attendees will find that it is a 'safe cry-zone' in which we will share experiences and explore how gardening can help reframe loss and provide a series of outdoor practices that can help mitigate grief. Gardens and plants have a long history of being associated with healing. The goal is not to offer a quick fix - which is impossible - but to offer a location in which physical activity and the processes inherent in gardening can help us build a bridge through our grief.
We are sorry for your loss. The person leading the workshop has been through this and has direct personal experience of just how traumatic grief can be; and, how gardening can help.
The sessions will include:
- Composting
- Tools
- Making potting soil
- Starting seed
- Pruning and planting cuttings
- Survivor guilt
All of the sessions will include mindfulness practices such as meditative weeding. During some seasons, seed saving will also be covered.
Groups are limited to six people. Pricing for the entire workshop series will be posted at the signup form. The cost of the workshop covers all materials. Most sessions, attendees will take home items from the workshops, for example, a tray/flat of cuttings or other items. Additionally, attendees will be given a username and password for this site in which additional resources can be obtained and downloaded.
If you have experienced the loss of a loved one, we are deeply sorry for you and we hope that this workshop will help you. But when new workshops are posted, please first read our FAQs before signing up to avoid disappointment because the workshop is not a good fit for you.
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- Parent Category: Therapeutic Horticulture
- Category: Gardening Therapy Grief Workshop
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