Horticulture Therapy - DG2 Design

Apr 19 2018

Designing for Trail Sustainability

By: Christina Hughey

Trails provide much more than hours of fun, trails help protect our environment. A trail built for sustainability reduces damage to plants, reduces disturbance to wildlife, reduces damage to soil and much more. A trail built right will last for many years. In contrast a poorly built trail will damage the environment surrounding it. When building a trail its important to build for sustainability.

There are many design tips and requirements to build for sustainability. Here are just a couple of ways to build a more sustainable trail:

Find the right trail location. Although it may seem easier to build on a flat terrain, you shouldn’t build there. If the terrain is flat water will collect or erosion will occur. It will save you time and money to build on the right terrain in the first place.
Another way to avoid erosion is to provide a suitable side slope. Water will always take the easier route downhill. The out slope needs to be greater that the grade of the trail.

You won’t regret building a sustainable trail!

Mar 19 2018

A Visit to Shaw Nature Reserve

By: Christina Hughey

I recently visited Shaw Nature Reserve located on the Meramec River, in Gray Summit. Although not everything was green yet, it was still quite beautiful! Shaw has many trails and provides many different hiking/walking opportunities. Shaw has a large prairie with a tepee and curved trails. The wetlands at Shaw are beautiful, here you will see aquatic life as well as a variety of plants. Perhaps the most beautiful thing to see at Shaw would be their woody areas, which include trails that make it easy to navigate. Shaw has hard surface trails but also an abundance of natural surface trails. The natural surface trails allowed me to feel completely submerged in nature. The options of things to do are endless at Shaw, I am already eager to get back there!

Mar 12 2018

Healing gardens for Veterans

By: Christina Hughey

When returning from war, soldiers will have to adapt back to regular civilian life, it might be hard for some to adjust right away. In addition to the stress of adapting, some may have been wounded from the war physically and or mentally. Some veterans may be dealing with new obstacles like learning to use a wheel chair or be getting around on crutches. This can make adjusting to regular life more complicated. Some soldiers will suffer from PTSD, TBI, major depression, or other invisible wounds. Some say that transitioning from a high stress combat zone to regular life is the hardest part of service. It’s not uncommon to find soldiers living in a natural setting or off the grid for these reasons.

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Visiting a healing garden is good for all veterans, whether dealing with injuries or not. Healing gardens give an option to relax alone or be with others having fun and getting to socialize. Along with all the health benefits nature already gives, healing gardens also offer more specific health benefits for veterans. This includes a veteran suffering from PTSD or other brain injuries. A study done by the University of Michigan stated veterans that participated in extended outdoor group recreation showed signs of improving mental health.

Feb 20 2018

Outside Play Becoming Non Existent

By: Christina Hughey

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Maybe one of the biggest concerns for children of this generation is the lack of time spent outdoors. Perhaps you have heard of the term Nature Deflect Disorder, this phrase came from the book Last Child in the Woods. Basically, describing the epidemic children especially are facing today. The problem is that kids on average are spending less than an hour outside a day when they should be spending 3 hours a day outside. With the increase of technology, some kids prefer to stay inside using electronics. They just don’t know what they are missing. Another reason kids aren’t getting outside is because parents fear their child’s safety, keeping children in smaller boundaries than ever before. Even though there has been no increase in abductions in the suburbs.

Ask any adults about childhood memories, and most will recall their favorite childhood memories being outdoors. We know the personal impact the outdoors has on us. Health may be one of the biggest reasons to get a child outside too. Research shows us that children participating in sports is at an all-time high, and even though that’s the case obesity amongst children has skyrocketed also. There are studies that show us that time spent outdoors cuts down obesity rates. Other studies showing us that overall health is improved when spending time outside. Some would even say being outside makes you smarter.

Kids need the outdoors, so let us all try to encourage them to be outside as an old but now nonexistent trend.

Feb 02 2018

Healing Gardens for Mental Health/ Behavioral Health

By: Christina Hughey

One in four people will be affected by mental illness in their lifetime. Mental illness has an attached stigma, therefore some people suffering with mental illness will not get help. Mental illness should not be thought of in a negative way, because it’s quite common, and it is also an illness in which the person cannot control. Behavioral health includes many different types of people and diagnosis. In fact, there are more the 200 classified forms of mental illness. To give you an idea, the people that will benefit from these healing gardens range from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) all the way to an eating disorder, with many other types of diagnosis in between. It’s such a broad topic and each of these gardens would need to be modified some to accommodate each client. Fortunately, we can all find unity in nature, because nature benefits us all.

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One person who will benefit from a healing garden would be someone with an eating disorder. Eating disorders include anorexia, bulimia, and binging. A person with an eating disorder will often lose interest in daily activities, therefore therapy often encourages creating a healthy balance of activities in the persons daily life. Providing a healing garden and including gardening or horticultural therapy can help to get routine back into the person’s life. Spending time growing and tending the produce can be encouraging for someone struggling with eating. Giving someone the option to eat their own produce that they grew themselves can be a more inviting option to eat for someone suffering from anorexia.

Every diagnosis is different, therefore every garden is a little different. Every healing garden will have to be modified in some ways. Although there are a few required design guidelines for healing gardens for mental health. According to Markus, Clare Cooper, et al. Therapeutic Landscapes: an Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces. (Wiley, 2014).

Safety is a priority, avoid objects that could be used for harm in any way (such as lightweight chairs, tools in the garden, etc.).
Visual as well as physical access to nature. Add visual access in rooms to let people who can’t access the outdoors still enjoy views of the outdoors.
Create a homelike environment to avoid an institutional look.
Design for social support, by providing spaces people can be together.

Some more design guidelines that are recommended by Markus, Clare Cooper, et al. Therapeutic Landscapes: an Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces. Wiley, 2014. include:

Provide opportunities for people to connect with nature inside too, potted plants, and green walls could be good options. This will give a way for the survivors to feel more secure and at home too.
Providing separate spaces for staff, sometimes their job may get stressful.
Providing a water feature (people with mental health do not have compromised immune systems so a water feature won’t be risky to their health, water can be extremely relaxing).
Consider building on human scale (including trees or other elements that bring the eye down from the tall buildings).

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Another garden that needs to be considered is a healing gardens for crisis shelters. Crisis shelters are created for survivors of Domestic violence. Domestic violence can impact both women and men. 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Domestic violence is characterized by any form of phycological, physical, sexual, or even economical abuse. Whenever a person who is abused decides to flee they might go to a crisis shelter. Most crisis shelters offer healing gardens to provide security and stress relief. Outdoor spaces are important because many of the families living in the crisis shelter are living close together, they are receiving lots of help but not always privacy. Private and monitored gardens are a good way to provide privacy. The garden will provide a place for the kids to safely play too. In addition, the resident will be able to receive some therapeutic benefits including stress relief, and increased levels of dopamine the “feel good hormones”.

Designing a healing garden in a crisis shelter requires some specific design too, here are a few required design guidelines:

The garden should be safely enclosed with no public entrances.
Keep a short distance from the garden and the building, allow the survivors to easily see the building to give them security.
Playgrounds should have seating close by so the parent is able to watch their child easily.

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No matter what the diagnosis is, every person deserves respect. People living with any form of mental illness are strong individuals and have nothing to be ashamed of. It’s just important to know that these individuals can greatly benefit from nature, in fact everyone can. Getting outside and being emerged in nature will greatly improve everyone’s health.

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