Are you in an emotional funk after a stressful, unhappy time or personal loss? Get involved with plants and they will help to restore your spirits.

Scientific research has shown that hospital patients whose windows looked out at landscape scenery recovered from surgery more quickly than those who faced a brick wall. Other studies found that just viewing a garden can reduce blood pressure and pulse rate and can even increase brain endorphins that promote mood-lifting feelings.

These experiments suggest that we do more than just enjoy contact with plants and flowers – they relax and refresh us after a stressful time. These findings are the basis for the science of Horticultural Therapy, which is a professionally conducted, client centered treatment modality that utilizes plants and gardening activities to meet specific rehabilitative goals for disabled clients.

It is a very effective treatment for ill individuals in hospitals, schools, prisons, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and mental health clinics. These clients may exert control over their environment by growing and nurturing plants and this both combats depression and cultivates a sense of empowerment and satisfaction. The sensory stimulation derived from exposure to nature promotes healing.

Most Horticultural Therapy programs rely on a variety of herbs, so group members can enjoy the tastes and aromas of herbs such as basil, thyme, oregano, mint, parsley, dill, lavender, and numerous others. Social skills are improved by group sharing horticultural tasks. The development of new leisure/vocational activities contributes to recovery, and these qualities all add up to a profound calming effect that results in a reduction in anxiety

One does not have to be disabled, however, to benefit from the therapeutic effects of gardening and plant exposure. Many of us who garden lose track of time while engaged in the garden and feel very calm and relaxed afterwards.

As one who has been a Registered Horticultural Therapist at the Philadelphia Center for Human Development – a partial hospital program for the mentally ill under the Einstein Hospital umbrella – I have seen first hand how much patients benefit. The smile and look of joy on the face of a previously depressed person after potting a plant or arranging some colorful blossoms to take home and nurture; the obvious feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment after harvesting tomatoes from plants in the group’s outdoor garden they carefully tended when savoring the resulting salad; growing mint and enjoying mint tea; growing lavender and making sachet for the relaxation its scent promotes; pruning dead branches as a metaphor for getting rid of bad feelings; growing other pungent herbs and enjoying the sensory stimulation of their smells and tastes all add up to an amazingly effective type of treatment.

Then there are other concomitant activities such as aroma therapy, handcrafts, and culinary activities.

The Wall Street Journal in recent articles stated: “Horticultural Therapy sessions can help patients with redeveloping fine motor and cognitive skills. Plant based projects – weeding or planting new beds – leads to decreased wandering and more focus of attention in nursing home patients . . . the path to better health . . . may wind through a garden.”

Studies performed at Rutgers and other sites have measured improvement of social skills through sharing tasks and working closely with peers in a group. Patients report a sense of renewal, hope, and lightening of depression when the plants they nurture grow and thrive, as well as a soothing, calming effect from being closer to nature. Self esteem and confidence that are often lacking in a person suffering from mental illness can be increased this way.

Although this is not mentioned in any of these studies, my role as the Horticultural Therapist has brought me much satisfaction and the sense that this is what I was destined to do, and I know other practitioners feel similarly.

Bernice Salamon is a Horticultural Therapist Registered (HTR) who lives in Willow Grove, Pa., and Margate.