horticultural therapy

Aug 07 2018

Braille Trails and Accessible Outdoor Spaces

By: Christina Hughey

Most people enjoy going on a walk outside to relax, especially in the spring and fall season. Unfortunately, not every trail is accessible for everyone, often when thinking about accessibility people often think of accessibility for wheelchairs. More places need to be wheelchair accessible that’s for certain, but accessibility is a wide term. What is accessible for someone using a wheelchair is not necessarily accessible for someone who is blind. Some people may even have the misconception that someone with a visual impairment can’t go on trails or hiking. That is simply not true. With the proper design and equipment, someone who has a visual impairment can go hiking too.

This is possible and fortunately, we are now seeing braille trails popping up worldwide. A braille trail should include a few accommodations such as signs in braille, its encouraged to have a looped trail, a smooth path, and a way finding rope. Implementing these designs will make the trail usable for someone with sight impairment. Having a friend to hike with or a trained hiking leader, or a guide dog are other things that are helpful too.

Here in Missouri we are lucky to have a few outdoor spaces made specifically for those who are blind. Most residents of Missouri are familiar with Elephant Rock State Park and may even be surprised to know that they offer a braille trail. It is designed especially for people with visual and physical disabilities. This trail allows people with a visual impairment to be able to hike with everyone. Ozarks Sensory Garden and The Zimmerman Sensory Garden are two other outdoor spaces made especially for people who are blind. With hope we will continue to see growth in the development of outdoor spaces made for a much wider range of abilities.

Jul 19 2018

Cities Connecting Children to Nature initiative

By: Christina Hughey

If you haven’t heard yet St. Louis is a part of the Cities Connecting Children to Nature Initiative. Just six
cities were chosen to receive technical assistance as well as grants. St. Louis was chosen because the city
expressed dedication and commitment for connecting children to nature.

The CCCN ensures all children can play, learn and grow in nature. The CCCN helps the involved cities by
examining local assets, planning and applying strategies that will help with what the community needs
to create opportunities for children to be out in nature. The outdoor spaces can range from parks to a
community garden and everything in between. What is great about this is that it can close the “nature
gap” so all children have an equal opportunity to be in nature.

The benefits of children being in nature is endless. When children get off the screens and play in nature
many positive things happen. A few benefits include: increased self-esteem, resilience against stress,
learning creativity, cooperation and even preventing childhood obesity. To sum it up nature makes
children happier, healthier and smarter.

Children are playing on green meadow examining field flowers using magnifying glass

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.

Mar 09 2018

Kids Grow in the Garden

By: Christina Hughey

It’s finally that time of year again. Spring! Everything is starting to grow and new life begins. Just the other week I arrived at a friend’s house to see her and her beautiful children finish up planting seeds. They smiled as they placed the seeds into the dirt, laughing making a bit of a mess with dirt. It makes me so happy to see young children involved with gardening projects, its so important that kids get their hands dirty and help in the garden.

Some of the benefits include healthier lifestyles, learning the value of plants for food, gardening can be an educational tool, and of course gardening is just good for the soul. Whether you live in the city or on a big farm there is gardening that can be done!

A few garden projects you can do with your kids:

Growing seeds in the windowsill is a small garden project that anyone can do.
Growing plants in pots on the porch.
If you are really wanting to dive into this, your kids can help you grow plants in a raised garden bed, or you could work together to grow a couple fruits or vegetables in your yard!

The opportunities are endless! What a wonderful activity for you and your child.

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Feb 26 2018

Go Green Go Native for Saint Patrick’s Day

By: Christina Hughey

Perhaps one of the best ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s day this year is to go eco green! By helping the environment around St. Patrick’s day we can have a fun productive holiday, as well as give back to our community and world. One way to help our environment is to support and grow native plants. Although it still may be too cold to garden you can start planning your future garden now!

Reasons why native plants are best:

Native plants are easier to grow. They are already well suited for the environment and require a lot less maintenance than plants that are not native. On the contrary nonnatives require large amount of fertilizer, water and herbicides for maintenance.
Native plants are ethical and better for the environment.
Less invasive species. If we keep introducing nonnatives and eliminating our natives we will continue to see extinction in our plants.

Native gardens are beautiful, not your typical shrubs and flowers you see in the usual gardens. Native gardens provide uniqueness. By planting a native garden you are also helping the environment. You are also being extremely green! Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

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