MIDDLESEX COUNTY — Phyllis Garvin, 13, of Trenton, dipped her finger into peat moss, making a small hole in the soil in the potting planter in front of her. She then carefully placed a begonia clipping in the hole before covering it over with dirt.


"Make sure the area where I took off the leaves is covered," said MaryAnne McMillan, chair of the Horticultural Therapy Committee of the Middlesex County Master Gardener program and volunteer coordinator at Rutgers Gardens. "You might even have to take a few leaves off."

Students from High Road School in Parlin and their horticulture teacher, Teresa Maltz, visited Rutgers Gardens last week where students were engaged in various hands-on horticultural therapy activities.

The students learned about propagation and toured the Donald B. Lacey Display Garden at the grounds in North Brunswick.

Horticultural therapy, an age-old form of therapy which dates back to ancient Egypt, uses plants and gardens to promote an individual's mental, physical and intellectual well-being. It has become an increasingly popular form of therapy used in nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and prisons around the country. It also is used in facilities for the blind, visually impaired and developmentally and physically disabled people, according to the American Horticultural Therapy Association.

"It can be used to increase mental stimulation, mobility, self esteem and social interaction," McMillan said. "It also encourages clients to use functions they don't normally use. It awakens the senses — sight, smell and touch. It's very effective with Alzheimer's patients because it awakens their senses and memories of the past."

In addition to working with the High Road School students, McMillan also brings her horticultural therapy to the residents of the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park.

During a recent visit to the home, McMillan, aided by Marijo Tizzio, a horticultural therapist intern from Rutgers University's Cook College, and volunteers from the Middlesex County Master Gardeners program, worked with residents during a therapy session.

"We're making potpourri today," McMillan told the residents. "We'll be making little sachets that you can take back to your room and put in your stinky sox drawer to make it smell nice."

"You're the teacher," said resident Joe Zrebiec, 93. "We'll do our best."

The session began with McMillan and her volunteers introducing the residents to the scents of various different dried flowers.

"These are scented geraniums," she said, while passing around the flowers for all to smell. "They come from the garden."

Resident Mary Hawse was given the job of separating the flowers from the geranium stems, while the other residents, with the help of the volunteers, broke flowers into small pieces.

As the residents and volunteers worked side-by-side, they shared stories about their lives, their families and even politics.

"It's really a lot of fun," said Master Gardener volunteer Anne Dombrowski. "I came here last December and I really enjoy working with the residents. They are lots of fun and they have so many stories to tell. My father was in the Army and it's a way to relate to people like my father."

For Ted Kaskiw, a former resident of Carteret now living at the home, the program reminded him of a gardening program he attended many years ago.

"It was fun to make the sachets and it was great socializing," he said. "I like flowers, although I never really had a lot of time to tend a garden. This reminded me of a landscaping program I attended at the high school years ago. We had just moved into our home and I wanted to plant a lawn. I learned a lot of tips that I still remember today."

McMillan, who has been visiting the home four times a year since 2001, said sachet-making is just one of the many horticultural therapy activities they provide there.

Earlier this year, McMillan — with the help of residents — started plants from cuttings. Later in the season, the cuttings were transplanted into a container garden full of vegetables and flowers outside the Old Glory Alzheimer's unit. They've also made holly, evergreen and dried flower arrangements.

Additional information about the Master Gardener's program, offered through the Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension of Middlesex County, is available by calling (732) 398-5262 or on the Web at http://co.middlesex.nj.us/extension services.

Additional information about horticultural therapy is available by contacting the American Horticultural Therapy Association at (800) 634-1603 or on the Web at www.ahta.org.

Susan Loyer:
(732) 565-7243;
sueloyer@thnt.com