This Portland program proves gardening is good therapy
Like most people, I feel better when I am gardening. It’s therapeutic.
Roses in the garden. (Photo by Tom Atwell)
If I am out picking vegetables, cutting flowers, removing weeds, pruning or doing some other gardening task, it means I am healthy enough to be outside, move around and focus. That isn’t possible for many people.
I’m also getting exercise, keeping my mind active and enjoying whatever conditions the sun and earth conspire to create for that moment.
In the world of medicine, social work and garden professionals, therapeutic gardening goes beyond such simple personal pleasures. It helps people suffering from physical and/or mental problems cope with a wide range of problems.
During this year’s growing season, people being treated at Recuperative Care Program at 934 Congress St. in Portland turned part of an abandoned parking area into a garden that provided flowers, food and a bit of fun.
Carolyn Schnell, a licensed clinical social worker at RCP, said she reached out to Cultivating Well-Being, a program that facilitates horticultural therapy, because many of her clients needed to create something positive after being treated for a variety of problems including physical injuries, disease, blood infections, substance abuse and mental illness.
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Laura Simonds-Rumpf, left, and Carolyn Schnell. (Photo by Tom Atwell)
“A lot of patients have ongoing medical needs coming from hospitalization at Maine Health, treatment at Preble Street and or other places,” Schnell said when I visited with her and Laura Simonds-Rumpf of Cultivating Well-Being at the RCP site.
Schnell said the idea of reaching out to garden therapists came during an art class she was teaching.
“A lot of people would talk about memories of gardening they had throughout their lives, and said they haven’t had opportunities to work in a garden in recent years because of housing issues, disability and illness,” she said. “I felt like it would be a healing process for a lot of patients.”
The therapeutic garden on Congress Street. (Photo by Tom Atwell)
She said two women bonded during the planting, and went out together to water in between the formal classes. During the classes, the clients would sometimes disagree about what to plant and how the tasks should be done, and working that out was helpful in their treatments.
Schnell said the program started in June this year, but she plans to start it earlier next year, so they can help the clients for a longer period but also to be successful and possibly improve the gardens’ production.
Simonds-Rumpf said scientific studies have shown the benefits of gardening. “When people are gardening they have less cortisol in their system,” she said, explaining that cortisol is the substance that promotes “fight or flight” reaction. “Also contact with plants has been known to lower the heart rate and is just calming.”
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Simonds-Rumpf said Cultivating Well-Being often offers programs in public libraries around the state, as well as working with people in their own homes.
Things to do
Although the gardens are still beautiful, fall-cleanup mode has begun. We harvested our onions, garlic, shallots and potatoes over the past couple of weeks. If you haven’t already done that, you should start now.
The gladiolus bulbs have stopped blooming, and the “rules” say they should be dug up 4-6 weeks after, or after the first light frost, which we haven’t had yet. After digging, cut the foliage an inch or so above the corms, store in a warm, dry ventilated area for a few weeks and then store them in a cool place where it won’t freeze.
The dahlias are still blooming. Erica Berman, co-owner of Veggies To Table in Newcastle, says, “Ideally after the first frost you cut the dahlias down and you wait one to two weeks to dig them up. That way, the eyes develop and they’re easier to see when you divide them. If you’re not dividing right away, it doesn’t matter as much when you dig them up, but best practice if you’re going to divide is to wait. It’s also good to know if you’re waiting, it’s best if you see lots of rain to cover them with a tarp because they are hollow and you wouldn’t want them to rot. It’s unlikely but it could happen.”
Asters and dahlias. (Photo by Tom Atwell)
The grow-to-donate farm currently has 800 plants in the ground and is expecting 4,000 tubers.
For perennial flowers, you should cut them back after the first frost or when they go dormant. Some people recommend not cutting them back until spring because the spent foliage will trap leaves, but we don’t like looking at the piles of leaves in our too frequent snowless winters.
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Now is the time to plant garlic and shallots so they get a good head start over the winter. Ours have arrived by USPS but we are waiting a bit to actually plant them.
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay has several fall programs scheduled, including a three-day course on ecological plant design on Oct. 23 and 31, and Nov. 1.
Snug Harbor Farm is offering a “Bonsai 101” workshop on Oct. 24.
From The Garden is published in partnership with Eat Drink Lucky and sponsored by Skillins Greenhouses.
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