Have you ever noticed feeling calmer, relaxed, or in a better mood while spending time outside? Maybe you have participated in a gardening activity at some point that left you feeling more connected to the world around you. As society pulls us as human beings further away from nature, it is important for us to spend more time immersed outdoors as a reminder of who we truly are. The restorative feelings that we often have while spending time in nature can be described as therapeutic horticulture, a term that broadly expresses how nature and gardening activities can be used to help deepen the connection between people and plants by strengthening the body, mind, and spirit connection.
During my time as an intern with the NC Cooperative Extension’s Ability Garden housed at the New Hanover County Arboretum, I was often asked what major led me to this internship. I noticed confused faces as I answered: “public health.” Throughout my public health coursework through the University of North Carolina Wilmington, I learned the impact that gardening can create in the community around me.
This semester, I worked with Lake Forest Academy, an alternative style school where elementary and middle school children may be placed for a variety of reasons, some including behavioral problems, mental health problems, or victims of abuse or neglect. The Ability Garden works with the garden club at Lake Forest to educate students about gardening, provide therapeutic benefits, and to guide students to develop a relationship with nature. From a public health perspective, students are engaging in ways to help increase mental health outcomes, increase physical activity while working in the garden, and increase knowledge of various nutritional crops grown in the garden.
The Transitions Program for Young Adults visits the Ability Garden bi-monthly to improve social, vocational, and overall wellbeing. This is a group of students aged 18-22 that remain in the New Hanover County School District for a variety of reasons, some including cognitive disabilities, learning disabilities, or physical limitations. The group transits to the New Hanover County Arboretum through public transportation, picnics within the garden for lunch, then joins the Ability Garden for various potting, seeding, or other gardening activities.
I noticed a need for movement between lunch and gardening, so I typically tried to implement a walk around the garden, and we practiced a few yoga poses and breathing exercises together. From a public health perspective, this group benefits from gardening by improving focus, staying on task, and completing tasks. These skills may translate into the community by helping students obtain jobs. Walking around the garden increases the amount of time participating in physical activity and improves mental health.
I was also able to apply public health skills such as leadership, planning, and communication throughout my internship. I believe that nature and gardening play a key role in public health and preventative health measures as well as treating health outcomes. I encourage you to set aside time this week to get outside, take a barefoot walk, practice yoga in a garden, or work on a gardening project to receive some of the many benefits of therapeutic horticulture.
Natalie Noftsger is a University of North Carolina Wilmington Public Health Intern with the Ability Garden at the NC Cooperative Extension – New Hanover County at the Arboretum, 6206 Oleander Drive in Wilmington. The gardens are free and open daily 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Reach her at natnoftsger@gmail.com or 704-607-6468.
