Gardens for the Senses: Gardening As Therapy

The garden can be a place of healing, a place where everyone can be accepted, where stress can be lost and peace discovered. In this book Hank Bruce introduces the field of horticultural therapy and describes the garden as a powerful place of renewal and connection. On a lighter note, the chapter on edible flowers is a sheer delight. He takes us on a journey through the garden as a sensory experience, and explores ways that these personal discoveries can be used to improve the quality of life of the residents of senior care facilities, or friends and relatives with developmental disabilities, physical or mental limitations. The garden is non-judgmental, the garden is patient, the garden is always there to reveal daily discoveries of sight, fragrance, texture, taste and sound. Other senses are highlighted: sense of place, sense of comfort, sense of beauty, sense of being, and sense of purpose. This book discusses the diversity and harmony of the green community as a metaphor for the human community. Peace can literally be grown in the garden. Gardens for the Senses, Gardening as Therapy also introduces the reader to the role of professional horticultural therapists. The reader is invited to explore the ways that gardening programs can be used as a therapeutic tool for abuse victims, rehabilitation centers, Alzheimer and stroke patients, inmates in prison systems, drug addicts and a multitude of special populations. The value of community gardens in the health of a community is explored. This book even suggests that there is a role for gardening in the workplace as a way to reduce conflict and improve productivity.