Undergraduate Certificate in Horticultural Therapy News
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UF Student Therapeutic Horticulture Program Receives 2025 Champions for Change Award
The UF Student Therapeutic Horticulture Program, led by Leah Diehl, Lauren St. Clair, and Julie Abrams-Bernier, has improved students’ mental and physical health through engagement with plants and wellness strategies. Their innovative approach has significantly decreased stress and anxiety while increasing resilience and community among over 350 UF students.
Leah Diehl, RLA, HTM, Director of Therapeutic Horticulture at Wilmot Botanical Gardens and Lecturer in Environmental Horticulture, interviewed on The Ah-Ha Moment Podcast.
Wilmot Gardens
Named for Royal James “Roy” Wilmot, an internationally renowned horticulturist with the Agricultural Experimental Research Station in the 1930s, Wilmot Gardens has flourished to house many unique opportunities at the University of Florida. While most horticulture therapy programs are in nursing home-type facilities, UF’s interdisciplinary Wilmot Garden greenhouse has clinical programming with an educational component. The program brings community groups together with student volunteers. “Horticulture therapy is beneficial as it relates to occupational therapy because many of these individuals improve on activities of daily living through progress in areas such as fine motor skills, in-hand manipulation techniques, social skills, etc. The greenhouse serves as an environment to distract from the traditional repetitive nature of rehabilitation/therapy and completes goals through the propagation and care of plants.” says Lena Roll, a therapeutic horticulture student volunteer. Ms. Roll is a health science major on the pre-occupational therapy track. She graduates in Spring 2019, and plans to go to graduate school and one day to be a health care professional who incorporates plant therapy into her practice. In Fall 2019, the Horticulture Therapy program will further grow to include a course taught by Professor Diehl. The continued expansion of this program and of the Gardens has been made possible thanks to grants, donors, and organizations providing continued funding. You can support Wilmot Gardens at their bi-annual Plant Sale each Spring and Fall, or simply by visiting the Gardens which are free and open to the public 365 days a year.
UF/IFAS Research | Therapeutic Horticulture
Charles Guy, a professor with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), explains how multiple studies have shown that people receive therapeutic benefits from gardening.
Cultivating Health
Wilmot Botanical Gardens researchers find therapeutic horticulture beneficial to healthy women