Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
You wouldn’t know that it has changed seasons in New England as we keep getting “snow events,” a few times a week. The last one occurred a few days before Spring leading the vast majority of my clients to cancel out on me due to the inclement weather. The weather of the past few months […]
You can never tell how well (or badly) a horticultural therapy will be received. My last session on growing an early kitchen spring garden maxed out with a baker’s dozen of clients who crammed around the table. It appeared that some just came not expecting what to get out of the day, but the idea […]
The moment Juana and I stepped off the plane from Florida, we realized that we were not in the tropics anymore: The temperature was 50 degrees less than what we had become used to and the early green of southern dogwoods and oaks were replaced by the skeletons of their northern relatives. This mattered little, […]
One of the more lovely birds that come to visit our feeders are bluebirds. Prior to the blizzard of last week, half a dozen descended on the back yard feeder looking to stock up before the bad weather hit. Too many were sidled up bottom-to-bottom on the weighted bird bar so that it tipped and […]
Sometimes a gardener feels like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day constantly repeating actions done the day before. Perhaps it is just a sign of age that time appears to quicken but today was such as day for me as I went outside to get wood, tidy up and take a last glance at […]
As I sit cuddled up to my wood stove, I can only imagine how lovely the flowers and trees will look in a few months. That was not the case last week as I worked on my tan in the Florida Keys with my skinny white legs acting as a beacon to bugs and a […]
A tease is the first melt of the season. With a month of snow gone, one can fantasize that daffodils, tulips and other greens will soon grow out giving way to cherry blossoms. But it is unlikely. The daffodils, in fact, have started to emerge, their enlarged buds poking through the soil. They will not […]
As a teacher or mentor, after a while certain classes become old hat through repetition. Such is becoming the case with some of the activities I schedule with my clients at Ann’s Place. Last week we made fragrant sachets to kick off this year’s therapy. The winter is often a challenging time to be “horticultural” […]
With eggnog cartons long discarded and snow piled on the peonies, winter has settled in. There was no doubt of it this morning with a waking temperature of 4 degrees under a clear sky. Wood needed to be split and piled but I waited until it reached the balmy temperature of 20 before venturing outside. […]
When I start a horticultural therapy session, I always try to break the ice with something unexpected. It can be some freshly picked berries from nearby bushes that the birds and animals have missed or slug-free greens that I just pulled from my garden. This time of year, however, the pickings are quite slim. When […]