Horticultural Therapy Books

Available for Sale

Horticulture As Therapy by Mitchell Hewson is a fact-filled guide to starting up and administering a horticulture therapy program, presented through the experiences of the author at his Homewood, Guelph, Ontario, Canada place of employment.

Although thoroughly detailed this book is delightfully infused with the "voice" of a humanist and naturalist. Real life experiences are carefully intertwined with many of the exercises, projects and activities that are presented, giving special value to these presentations. This book is sufficiently complete to enable a novice professional to move forward with confidence, yet sufficiently filled with innovation to enable even the veteran professional to find it valuable. Horticulture As Therapy will likely find its way to the bookshelves of all people who believe in and promote the concept of deriving therapy and rehabilitation through the horticulture vehicle.

$30.00 CDN plus $8.00 shipping and handling

Buy here: Mitchell Hewson

The Holistic Garden

By Karen York
Photographs by Paddy Wales

Karen York's background as a certified horticulturist, botanical editor and writer, as well as her on-going work in horticultural therapy, provides the basis of knowledge for this book on the healing aspect of gardening? There are chapters on organic gardening, herbs, the importance of trees, water in the garden, naturalization, growing good food, gardening for the senses, and rooftop gardening. The final chapter, The Healthy Gardener, emphasizes the therapeutic effect of gardening to relieve stress, work through grief, and improve physical and mental health? Throughout the book, she emphasizes the message that as we nurture our gardens, we nourish ourselves.

"Whatever form it takes, the healing garden affords us the opportunity to gaze inward and outward in an intimate communion that renews us physically, emotionally and psychologically. By gaining a deeper understanding of nature's infinitely wondrous workings, we can draw on that healing power to restore balance and harmony in ourselves and to the earth." (pg. 15)

The Holistic Garden will become an important resource for health care practitioners who use gardening as therapy for their patients. At the same time, the home gardener is provided with practical information and advice to help them build their own garden sanctuary.

168 pages, paperback, Prentice Hall/Penguin Books (2001)
List price $25.00 incl. tax and shipping

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"Horticulture As Therapy" DVD

Horticulture As Therapy features Master level horticultural therapists Christine Pollard and Mitchell Hewson.

Margaret Nevett and her company Gardening For Life created this DVD to provide a clear explanation of the benefits of Horticultural Therapy, to make it easily understood and embraced as a necessary alternative therapy in our health care system. We also hope to motivate those already working in health care or horticulture to consider extending their career to this satisfying field of study.

Produced by: Margaret Nevett
Directed by: Ron Meraska
(47 minutes)

"Horticulture As Therapy" is a comprehensive look at the profession of Horticultural Therapy (HT) through interviews with the top Horticultural Therapists in Canada (Christine Pollard HTM, Mitchell Hewson HTM and others).

The history and benefits of HT are explained including the settings and special populations involved. Teamwork and safety issues are discussed as well as our important professional associations and educational opportunities.

Visual examples of HT activities and testimonials from participants working at St. Joseph's Hospital in Guelph, Ont. and The Guelph Enabling Garden, help to provide an in-depth look at the valuable experience of using horticulture as therapy.

The final section on Enabling Gardens (including the Sunnybrook Hospital Veterans' Garden in Toronto), demonstrates some important design considerations when creating a therapeutic garden.

This DVD will be useful for Horticultural Therapists to use as a communication tool for program development and funding. Educational resources and contact information are provided for anyone interested in studying Horticultural Therapy.

To Order DVD "Horticulture As Therapy"
$25.00 CDN plus tax, shipping and handling.
Please e-mail your name, complete shipping address, telephone number.

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