Developing a horticulture therapy garden for vocational training in Taiwan.

摘要

The practice of horticultural therapy (HT) in Taiwan is gaining importance in response to the growing population of elderly people with mental and physical disabilities as well as people of all ages undergoing rehabilitation treatment in homecare centers and hospitals. Home gardening is a tool used in horticulture therapy to alleviate physical and mental disabilities of patients. Based on information learned during a HT certification training course conducted at Providence Farm in Canada, a model HT garden was developed at AVRDC. The objective of the project was to utilize the HT garden as a demonstration tool in training patients with disabilities on home gardening. The model HT garden consisted of hypertufa activities and theme gardens. Hypertufa is made of a cement/sand mixture with light natural resource materials such as peat moss and vermiculite, with adequate water added to form various types of plant containers and plates for raised beds. The advantages of these materials are they are low-cost, lightweight and unique, with reversible water-nutrient flow and a natural resource base. The other activity was designing a theme garden using hypertufa plates with a dimension of 110x45x4 cm. Six theme gardens were designed, i.e. ornamental and edible plant garden, herb tea garden, safe vegetable garden, aquatic plant garden, indigenous vegetable garden and pizza garden. Design was based on principles, such as ease of growing, nutritional benefits, harmony and companion plant combinations. Participants enjoyed the experience of making a hypertufa for physical exercise, group work that enhanced social relationships and creating various types of plant containers. The experience in designing a theme garden provided participants with comprehensive knowledge of plants, enhancing their cognitive attributes. The model HT garden is being used as a demonstration and training tool.