Education — Horticultural Therapy Services

In Our Nature: Cultivating Health and Harmony

PHOTO: girls potting plants Why do people send you flowers when you are sick? Because they contribute to feelings of well-being. This idea has been dramatically demonstrated through the Chicago Botantic Garden's Horticulture Therapy Services, an internationally recognized horticulture program. Science is beginning to understand why gardening and being in plant-right environments actually improve our health and well-being; part of the reason is simply that it's in our nature.

The Chicago Botanic Garden, uniquely situated on nine islands surrounded by lakes and featuring 23 display gardens and three native habitats, offers visitors a respite from the noise and hurry of their daily lives. For more than a quarter century the Garden's Horticultural Therapy staff have offered programs that use gardening and the natural environment to promote health and harmony, restoration and healing. Through their expert consultative services, a facility's existing outdoor space can be transformed into a therapeutic environment that stimulates the senses and enhances quality of life. In 2003, the Garden introduced the country first Healthcare Garden Design Certificate of Merit program. This one-year professional development program applies the latest research in evidence-based design to achieve specific health outcomes.

The Buehler Enabling Garden is a beautiful 11,000-square-foot garden that demonstrates many of the strategies and designs taught through our Healthcare Therapy and Design program. Raised beds, vertical gardens and hanging baskets bring the pride and pleasure of gardening to people of all abilities and ages.

For information on these programs as well as the topics below, contact the
Chicago Botanic Garden's Horticultural Therapy Program at (847) 835-8250 or horttherapy@chicagobotanic.org.

Professional support for healthcare and human service agencies to establish gardening programs for their clients.
Programs that connect visitors to the restorative powers of nature and gardening.
Consulting services for healthcare and design professionals who are planning therapeutic gardens and horticultural therapy programs.
Professional education, symposia and internships in horticultural therapy.
Publications and other resources for professionals and the public.

Horticultural Therapy and Buehler Enabling Garden programs are made possible in part through the generosity of the following donors: Buehler Family Foundation, Florence Rantz, Grant Healthcare Foundation, The Kenilworth Garden Club, Elizabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trust, Edmond & Alice Opler Foundation, Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation, Meeker-Magner Company, Geraldi Norton Memorial Corporation and Petrie-Bowen Family Charitable Trust.