Horticultural Therapy

Horticultural therapy is an evidence-based treatment modality using gardening activities facilitated by a trained practitioner to meet client-centered needs. I have designed and delivered therapeutic horticultural interventions at schools, juvenile detention centers, hospices and private homes for 30 years. For custom development, contact me for curriculum design attuned to your specific interest and capacity.


Garden Design + Education

I design perennial polycultures, therapeutic landscapes and ecoliteracy curriculum. Informed by whole systems thinking, I create water wise edible forest gardens that are adapted to the needs of each client and their bioregion. My experience in agroecology and permaculture inform my approach to climate resilient gardening. As a beekeeper, I am passionate about building soil and integrating perennial pollinator and wildlife habitat in every xeriscaped, fire resistant design.

Experience

I grew up gardening with my acupuncturist/clinical herbalist mother. I studied botanical medicine in high school, and was the Campus Forestry Intern at TreePeople in my native Los Angeles when I was 16. That is where I got my start planting trees in schools and creating community gardens.  I studied Permaculture Design with Dave Jacke of Edible Forest Gardens, and with Douglas Bullock when I was 18, in 1996. 

I learned to design eco-literacy curriculum at the Environmental Education Exchange in Tucson in 2000. I earned a certificate in Horticultural Therapy  through Colorado State University, and through Oregon State University I am a certified Master Gardener and Master Naturalist. I earned a certificate in Sustainable Food and Farming from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where I studied Environmental Humanities. I first learned bioremediation in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and have continued to study phyto and mycoremediation of brown fields and contaminated home sites.