Garden Therapy
No one should miss the joys of gardening, including the elderly, physically, emotionally or mentally challenged. The NGC Garden Therapy program is the use of garden-related activities as an aid to recovery and rehabilitation. It’s one of the oldest and most popular phases of garden club work.
“Garden related” is defined as the growing of plants, the artistic use of plants and other natural material, the study of birds, nature and conservation, and the exhibiting of knowledge, interest and skills in these areas.
Below are examples of garden therapy projects undertaken by the Bartram Garden Club.
Nassau County Council on Aging
December 6, 2024
Garden Therapy Chairman Elizabeth Rawson along with club members Kim Brewer-Bettencourt, Celia Cart and Sabine Jarvis, led a hands on workshop with elderly members of the Adult Day Care group at Nassau County’s Council on Aging in Fernandina Beach. They created gnome ornaments using pinecones as a base. Materials were prepared in advance by club members allowing the participants to custom decorate their take-home gnome during the workshop.
Youth Garden Therapy for Exceptional Student Education
This ground-breaking program was initiated in January 2019 by retired school nurse and club member, Alice Caldwell, as a form of garden therapy for ESE students at the Fernandina Beach High School. Raised beds were constructed to accommodate wheelchair bound students. The classes were held once a month in cooperation with the FBHS Exceptional Student Education staff. Lesson plans included vegetable seed plantings, zoo and sensory plants, holiday floral centerpieces, terrariums, and planting decorated flower pots for Mother’s Day. The students also wrote about their gardening experiences in a monthly journal. 2020 programs included planting winter annuals and wildflowers on the school campus. Over 30 students participated. Led by the our Youth and Garden Therapy Committees, the project encouraged new club members to join the team of volunteers. This project has been temporarily discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The club was presented with an FFGC Garden Therapy Award in April 2020 for this project.
To see more ESE photos visit the Gallery 3 page.
Read the newspaper article about this project in our Scrapbook Section 11.
Osprey Village Assisted Living Facility
In February, 2017 the Bartram Garden Club, Inc. again visited the Osprey Village Assisted Living Facility in Fernandina Beach to work with the residents on garden therapy. This time the garden club members worked with the residents to make over 50 Valentines's Day corsages for the residents to enjoy. The club will expand its garden therapy programs to other institutions when the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted.
ALICE CALDWELL AND CLAUDIA BURNINGHAM AT OSPREY VILLAGE ALF
In January 2017 The Bartram Garden Club, Inc. initiated its first garden therapy project. Members aided residents of Osprey Village Assisted Living Facility at Amelia Island in creating table centerpieces for their “Day in the Orient” celebration.
MEMBER ALICE CALDWELL HELPS RESIDENTS PREPARE CENTERPIECES FOR THE DINING ROOM
