OUR MISSION
To improve the quality of life of individuals with specific needs through horticulture-based
activities, and advance empirical research on the value of therapeutic horticulture.
The UF Therapeutic Horticulture Program, situated on the University of Florida's Horticultural Sciences Teaching Farm, is based on the belief that an active connection with plants and nature can be a restorative experience and have a profound impact on quality of life. Through intentional, horticulture-based activities facilitated by trained professionals, the program seeks to decrease stress and mental fatigue, boost self-esteem and self-efficacy, support cognitive and physical function, provide community, creativity, and optimism, and cultivate resilience in our participants.
Rooted in the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the program maintains strong partnerships with the Horticultural Sciences Department, the UF Counseling and Wellness Center, UF Health, and the broader Alachua community. Since its inception, the program has served a variety of vulnerable populations with specific needs, including veterans with spinal cord injury/disease and mental illness, stroke patients, cancer survivors, patients with end stage renal disease, individuals with Parkinson's Disease and their caregivers, college students experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness, psychiatric inpatients, young adults with autism, and adults with developmental disabilities. In addition to education on various horticultural techniques and topics, the program promotes many therapeutic benefits, including socialization, intellectual and sensory stimulation, respite and relaxation, stress reduction, increased confidence, improvement in coping skills, and restoration from mental fatigue.
The UF Therapeutic Horticulture Program represents one of the nation's leading programs, where education, programming, and research are conducted on site to explore the efficacy and breadth of therapeutic horticulture. Data is collected on many of the program's groups through a variety of measurement tools, and results are regularly published in peer-reviewed journals.
These efforts are vital because, to date, much of the evidence in support of the benefits of therapeutic horticulture is anecdotal. By contributing rigorous research leading to evidence-based practices, the UF Therapeutic Horticulture Program supports the growing body of evidence that gardening and nature-based activities have measurable and positive impacts on individuals' stress levels, well-being, and self-efficacy among other benefits, which in turn influence academics, health outcomes, and overall quality of life.
The Therapeutic Horticulture Program strives to offer programming free of charge for participants through grant funding and private philanthropy. Current funders include the Burpee Foundation, Costa Farms, The Bonnie Foundation, the UF Strategic Funding Initiative, and several individual donors.
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