Horticultural therapist

Horticultural therapists use gardening to help people improve their health and develop confidence and skills. For example, they work with people with disabilities, clients with illnesses or injuries, older adults, ex-offenders and people who have drug addictions.

Work activities

Horticultural therapists create and deliver gardening programmes that improve people’s health and well-being. They also enable people to develop confidence and skills. For example, social and therapeutic horticulture can benefit:

• People with physical and learning disabilities.
• Older adults.
• People who are recovering from illnesses and injuries.
• Ex-offenders.
• People with mental health problems.
• People with drug and alcohol addictions.

Through planned and supported programmes, therapists can help their clients in a number of ways. For example, people who are recovering from accidents can get their strength and range of movement back through physical exercise. As well as practical gardening skills, clients can develop social skills through making friends and working in teams. They can build a sense of self-worth through achieving goals with other people, demonstrating that their contribution is valuable.

Clients can learn or re-learn number and reading skills, e.g. through counting and labelling plants. People with learning disabilities can also benefit from sensory stimulation, e.g. through working with different colours and smells. Horticultural therapists also encourage people to enjoy gardening as an activity in itself. The therapy can give people an opportunity to relax, reflect on their lives, and enjoy the natural environment. First, horticultural therapists need to find out as much as possible about the client. This will help them to plan activities that best meet the client’s needs.

To assess the client, therapists might talk to other professionals, e.g. social workers, occupational therapists, learning disability nurses and psychologists. Depending on clients’ needs and abilities, horticultural therapists could work with them one-to-one or in small groups. While some projects can be quite casual, others are very structured; they can lead to employment. Clients might go to the project for a number of hours a day, on more than one day a week.

Day to day, therapists work closely with their clients. They plan what the client will be doing each day. It’s important that the therapist monitors the client closely, keeping accurate records of their achievements. These can include job sheets, time sheets and evidence of the client’s work. If necessary, the therapist should review and change the client’s work so they can get the best results from the programme.

Therapists regularly assess and encourage clients, increasing their levels of responsibility when appropriate. They teach skills and give clients the opportunity to try new activities, so their involvement in the project is varied. Sometimes, clients help to market and sell what they have produced. This further develops their sense of self-worth. Horticultural therapists can enable clients to contribute to the running of the project, e.g. through formal meetings.

Personal qualities and skills

To be a horticultural therapist, you’ll need:

• Horticultural knowledge and skills.
• Patience, tact and sensitivity.
• The ability to inspire confidence and to encourage people.
• Strong communication skills to work with clients, and professionals such as nurses, social workers and psychologists.
• Teaching skills.
• Assessment skills.
• Financial skills, for example, to manage budgets.
• Planning and organisational skills, to create programmes for clients.

Pay and opportunities

The pay rates given are approximate. Horticultural therapists earn in the range of £17,000 - £30,000 a year.

Horticultural therapists normally work a five-day week, with some weekend or evening work. Part-time work is available.

One of the largest employers is the national charity, Thrive. Other potential employers include hospitals, adult education centres, further education and specialist colleges, prisons, schools and parks, health authorities and charities.

Opportunities occur for horticultural therapists to work on projects in towns, cities and rural areas throughout the UK. However, the number of opportunities varies, depending on the availability of charitable or government funding. There are some opportunities to work in other countries, particularly the USA, where social and therapeutic horticulture is more established. Australia, Canada and Japan may also offer opportunities.

Entry routes and training

There is no one single route into a career in social and therapeutic horticulture. Some entrants have qualifications and experience in horticulture, or in relevant areas such as occupational therapy, social work, teaching and nursing. Increasingly, employers are looking for entrants with formal qualifications, ideally in social and therapeutic horticulture. Employers want to see that entrants have skills in areas such as managing staff and volunteers, securing funding and promoting social and therapeutic horticulture to other professionals.

You can gain qualifications and experience in social and therapeutic horticulture by going on a short course and doing voluntary work at a social and therapeutic horticulture project.

You could progress to be in charge of more than one project or manage larger schemes. You might go on to specialise in a particular part of the work, for example, fundraising or promoting the work to other professionals.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: Many posts, for example, ones that involve working with vulnerable adults, are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that you must supply information to an employer about any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings, if they ask you to. This is different from other careers, where you only have to reveal information on unspent convictions if you are asked to.

What’s happening in this work area?

Entry is competitive, as this is a small but developing profession in the UK.

Where are vacancies advertised?

Vacancies are advertised on Thrive’s website, on the website of the Institute of Horticulture, on employers’ websites, in local/national newspapers and on job boards, e.g., for horticultural or social care jobs.

Adult opportunities

Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

Some entrants have first developed relevant skills in occupations such as social work, teaching or nursing. Others have a horticultural background.

Colleges will usually consider applications from adults who don’t meet their usual entry requirements. You should check the admissions policy of individual colleges.

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