Gardens are beautiful places to spend time in. They can also provide function if you want to grow vegetables, flowers or herbs. But did you know about the health benefits of growing and maintaining an outdoor space? There are many ways that gardening can benefit your health, and with that idea in mind, several organisations have developed therapies that use the garden.
The Kevin Heinze GROW organisation has taken this onboard and developed a great program for those who are in need of fresh air, sunshine and lots of greenery. Let’s find out what therapeutic horticulture actually is, and how this organisation is using it for good.
What is therapeutic horticulture?
Therapeutic horticulture uses gardening activities as a form of therapy to improve mental and physical health. Kevin Heinze GROW in Doncaster, Melbourne provides therapeutic programs for people of all abilities.
We spoke with Patrick Wain, its therapeutic horticulture coordinator, to find out about the benefits therapeutic horticulture programs bring. Patrick used to be a mechanical engineer working in building services consulting. But wanting more fulfilment, he went on to study horticulture and disability support. “I also have a disability myself,” he adds. “I felt this personal connection to it.”
He explains that Kevin Heinze had a saying: “the success of any organisation relies on its ability to change with the needs of its participants.” That remains a central principle for the organisation. “We adjust our therapeutic practice in line with who our participants are and what their goals are,” Patrick says.
Patrick explains it’s crucial to unearth what is important to a participant. “When we sit down and have a conversation with a participant, or with their parent or carer, we learn pretty quickly what their goals are and what they want to achieve with us,” he says.
“We’re often talking and reflecting on what’s the process rather than the product, and where are the therapeutic moments in that process for that person,” he explains. “That’s an adjustment a lot of participants end up making while they’re with us.”
Who was Kevin Heinze?
Kevin Heinze (1928-2008) was one of Australia’s pioneering gardening presenters. He appeared on TV from the 1960s through to the late 1980s, hosting the ABC program Sow What, and was on ABC Radio in Melbourne until 2004. His gardening and work with the community made Kevin famous, and the Kevin Heinze GROW organisation continues his legacy.
The Kevin Heinze GROW organisation
Kevin Heinze GROW is a not-for-profit organisation that creates opportunities for meaningful inclusion, connection and physical and mental therapy through gardening. Kevin Heinze GROW in Doncaster, Melbourne provides therapeutic programs for people of all abilities.
During his work, Kevin Heinze had encountered therapeutic gardens in the UK, but he saw that they were being underutilized. Kevin returned to Australia and, through fundraising and partnerships, he established an initial charitable organisation in Doncaster in 1979.
In 2019, the second Kevin Heinze GROW site opened at Peppertree Place in Coburg in Melbourne’s inner north. The programs were originally established for children with disabilities and were heavily supported by volunteers. More recently, the organisation has become a service provider in Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), allowing it to expand staff numbers and its programs. It now delivers more than 750 hours of individual support to 70 participants each week.
The organisation offers several programs to promote social inclusion, resilience, confidence and laughter. Goals vary for each individual. Some attendees focus on developing vocational skills to work in horticulture. For others, it’s about social connection, physical health or recovery. For those dealing with mental ill-health, there’s the calm that gardening can bring.
Program activities can include propagation, potting up, plant care and nursery duties. But there are also personal development and special interest sessions that can include literacy, social skills, physical movement or art, depending on the participants’ interests.
Benefits of therapeutic horticulture
The positives of therapeutic gardening are both physical and psychological, says Patrick. “You are physically healthier. You might bend down more. You’re breathing fresher air. You’re eating the food that you’re growing. You’re getting dirt under your fingernails, you’re moving around.
“A lot of people find that it helps with their pain management. We have plenty of participants who, as part of their disability or chronic illnesses, have a lot of chronic pain to manage. Being in nature can draw you away from what’s happening internally, and from the pain you’re experiencing. You can have moments of rest and relaxation from being in nature, which then help you to sit with discomfort in other parts of your life. That could be pain, trauma, difficult experiences, or the challenges of being disabled in a world that’s not built for you.”
Although there is a perception of gardening therapy as an ‘alternative’ health approach, Patrick emphasises that science backs up the practice. “We have some people who join our program because their doctor or physio has told them to do it.” And the organisation has clinicians – a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, a counsellor and an art therapist.
“I’m not a neuroscientist,” Patrick tells us, but he touches on an explanation put forward by the team at Kevin Heinze GROW. The simple version is that the amygdala part of our brain, which processes emotions including our fight, flight or freeze response, is always on. “It helps us survive,” says Patrick. “It is what pushes you to get ready for work on time, and it’s what pushes you to cross the road without getting hit.
“It’s what keeps you feeling attentive for conversations you’re having and the things that you need to get done in the day. But it’s also driving a lot of the anxiety you might be experiencing, a lot of the stress.”
Remarkably, in the presence of nature the amygdala slows down. If there are plants nearby, our brain considers that our food, water, shelter and essential survival needs are likely to be met. It’s a deep, primal response embedded in us through countless generations. The brain then allows the body to feel more calm, and that allows us to be more receptive to social connection, therapeutic experiences, and physical improvements.
The positives of Kevin Heinze GROW
The benefits of programs at Kevin Heinze GROW ripple much further than the individual participants. “For each person who comes in, they’re not this unconnected individual. They have a family and friends, housemates, or partner,” Patrick says. “What’s happening within the gates of the garden translates to the outside world, and we’ve seen firsthand how it has really helped strengthen or even establish relationships with parents, siblings or children.
“We’ve seen how someone’s confidence increasing from being with us translates to them doing better in their job, or to them getting a job. We’ve seen how someone’s physical health being improved by doing a bit of gardening every week then translates to them finding a walking group because they can go walking more.”
The team at Kevin Heinze GROW also take positives from their work. “For me, personally, working in the disability community, which is a community I belong to, has been the best thing I ever did,” says Patrick. “I really feel like I’m with my people. I’ve learned so much about myself and others. I have a much stronger Deaf and disabled identity because of being with other Deaf and disabled people here.”
There are challenges, of course. It’s difficult as a not-for-profit to keep offering high-quality services. But Patrick is upbeat. “When I see someone’s life improve and their experiences improve, that’s when I really feel proud and happy.”
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