Horticultural Therapy Society of NSW

Cultivate NSW

Issue 80 March 2009

Inside this issue: The Thymely Gardener 2

Healthy Gardening
Cultivate NSW successfully applied for a 2009 Seniors Week Grant, from the NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (DADHC). The grant has enabled the Society to host workshops during Seniors Week in March 2009, to promote Healthy Gardening for older people. The workshops have been designed incorporating gardening methods for reduced physical strength or capacity, the use of modified tools and garden design. What modifications to a garden may enable the joy of gardening to continue in later life? The workshops will be held during the NSW Seniors Week in March. Places for two workshops are still available.

Maintaining your therapy garden Maintaining your therapy garden (cont) Dont spend your money on plants! Library

Quote of the month

When: 17 and 20 March 2009 Time: 1.30 4.30pm Where: Telopea Centre, Ryde What to bring: Gardening gloves, questions and a sense of fun. All other materials and afternoon tea provided.
Memberships due for renewal 4

Bookings essential : Phone: 9448 6392 info@cultivatensw.org.au

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

Book now for workshops during Seniors Week March 2009 Places still available Tuesday 17 and Friday 20 March Contact the Telopea Centre 9448 6392

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Cultivate NSW

The Thymely Gardener

Cultivate was fortunate to have a visit from American Horticultural Therapist Amy Wagenfeld in October 2008. Amy attended the Cultivate AGM and visited several sites in Australia while here. It was great to get an update from North America about current practices and initiatives in horticultural therapy. Amy has more than 25 years of experience as an occupational therapist and is also a Certified Ageing in Place Specialist, a registered horticultural therapist and certified master gardener. You can read more about Amy and her business, The Thymely Gardener, on her websitesee www.thethymelygardener.com. Amy has a commitment to blending principles of universal design with her work in finding strategies and solutions that will provide a lifelong sustainable and usable gardens and green space, both public and private, that work effectively for adults and children. In addition to her work with The Thymely Gardener, Amy is a member of the American Horticultural Therapy Associations Research Team and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Lasell College in Newton, Massachussetts. Amy is the author of three books, a CD, and numerous journal articles. She is also a regular contributing author to the Government of Queensland Australia's Smart and Sustainable Homes e-newsletter.
Amy Wagenfeld, PhD, OTR/L, HTR, CAPS

Maintaining a Horticulture Therapy garden

I was talking today with a Diversional Therapist who was the initiator of a mammoth re-vitalisation of a hospital garden a couple of years ago. Could I come to visit the garden? Well . . . She was a little reluctant. Her health was bad last year and they lost their gardener. The gardener came back today but no-one is sure for how long. The powers that be are muttering about budgets. The staff want to get a volunteer program going in the garden but this will take time and resources to manage. Sound familiar?

Growing people
When talking garden maintenance one usually thinks of weeds and watering and pruning. But in social and therapeutic gardens it is often the people that make the difference. Maintaining the human energy is critical. If you are the initiator of a garden, then it will be important to consider your succession plan. Not just succession in terms of what crops will be planted next season, but are you cultivating a team of people with energy and skills to take responsibility for keeping the garden going and growing?

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Horticultural Therapy Society of NSW

Maintaining a Horticulture Therapy garden (cont)

Seasons and cycles
Gardens have cycles, times of high energy and enthusiasm are mixed with times that the focus is elsewhere. Gardens teach us that seasons like this are part of life. So if you see an overrun garden dont feel despondent. Assess its strong points: maybe there some structures that are solidly built. Check out the hazards for example. Are there a whole lot of weeds about to set seed. And see if you can find some keen folk to spend a little time- this is a stage when a little effort can reap dramatic results. Look what a difference weve made a very satisfying task, and enjoyable if theres a group to share the load.

Think global act local

Physical garden principles for low maintenance include working with the local climate soils etc. Local plant species are invaluable as they are most likely to endure. Local reference sources help too in misty England veges may need full sun for 4-6 hours/day but in most areas of NSW, many veges like lettuces and coriander will benefit from some relief. Plant them in light shade and youll enjoy more summer salads. Increasing the organic matter in your soils will have an exponential improvement in the moisture holding capacity. The compost and mulches you add are your insurance against wilting on those unbearably hot days.

Dont spend your money on plants

Garden smart. That is, design it to maximise enjoyable tasks and reduce the chores. Life is too short to pull kikuyu out of garden beds, so place gardens against existing edges (like paths) wherever possible, and spend your budget on concrete edging if you have to for the other sides. The participants of your program will then have the pleasure of growing the plants for the garden. In fact plants come last on the shopping list. Structures like raised beds will take money, and if you want a healthy garden, spend as much as you can on the soils. Dont buy topsoil which is usually water repellant river silt that belongs on the river flats. Instead get hold of any organic matter you can. Preferably free of weeds and weed seeds. Lots of it. Mix it with your existing soil or lay it on top in a no-dig garden. And if you cant grow everything you need for the garden from seeds or cuttings, buy the smallest plants you can tube-stock is the cheapest. The plants will then establish strong root systems in your garden and will outgrow those expensive ones in big pots which have been mollycoddled in sheltered nurseries.

Celebrate often
Let everyone know about the successes. Tell them in person. Put photos up on the walls. Put an article in the newsletter, or even better the local newspaper. We all benefit from good news storiesyour garden will too.

Issue 80
Horticultural Therapy Society of NSW Telopea Centre 250 Blaxland Road Ryde, NSW 2112 Phone: (02) 9448.6392 e-mail: info@cultivatensw.org..au

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LIBRARY
The Telopea Centre has many resources to inspire and encourage. The garden sites and pathways encourage inventiveness for the landscaper. The tool collection a is a store of problems solved, demonstrating that nothing can prevent a keen gardener from the experience. Another valuable resource at the Centre is a library of books, journals and articles collected over time and available for anyone for literary research. Items must be read at the Centre. Please contact the Telopea Centre to arrange a suitable time.

Cultivate NSW
Connecting people and plants

www.cultivatensw.org.au

Membership fees: A reminder of the new fee structure to take effect from the next cycle of annual membership which is due this month. The new membership fees are: Individual member: Pensioner / student member: $25.00 pa $10.00 (Inc. of $5.00) (No Change)

Organisation/Corporate Member: $50.00 (Inc. $15.00) The Committee is hopeful that this new structure is not prohibitive and that the income will assist the Society.

And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose, And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows; But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam, For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come. Rudyard Kipling

Reminder that memberships are due for renewal end of March 2009