Open letter to destroyed alzheimer horticultural therapy gardens

It has been a productive and joyous six years working with you,  the residents and staff at the nursing home.    As a recreation therapist you "get it" and understand the benefit of therapeutic engaging activities more than the average activity director at other facilities.  The nursing home is fortunate to have you there.  

We have nurtured along four butterfly gardens, four vegetable gardens and four herb gardens. They have matured into very beautiful healing gardens where there was cement, fencing and empty beds.

I was shocked to visit the facility today and see most everything thrown away, hundreds of dollars of valuable plants as well as man hours of work gone.  Residents and staff and family members at the units came up to me asking, what happened to the garden?  They have grown to enjoy the therapeutic healing environment.  When I suggested we can plant again, their response was a forlorn "What's the point?" 

The garden cuts down stress, it gives them pleasure, and keeps employees happy at work. The garden also provided a quick snack (cherry tomatoes),   healing herbal teas (rosemary, thyme and tarragon.  The papayas gave a healthy nutritious snack.  All of this is gone.  Luckily the aloe remains.  

Red poisonous mulch is in the  beds, which I had removed in the past. This is an inappropriate mulch for a health facility.  Often the recycled wood is used that is pressure treated with a copper arsenic solution. That is why it is banned from playgrounds.  The red dye stains sidewalks, your hands and may be toxic as well.  If the bad does not state "no recycled wood" it is dangerous.  

The mulch was piled onto the base of all the shrubs, which can kill the plants.  The agricultural extension office suggests keeping all mulch several inches from the base of plants.  

All our cherry tomato plants are gone, they must have sprayed a toxic herbicide on the garden beds. 

I know the administration would not intentionally do harm to the residents and staff and family members.  Why no one was informed before is a mystery to me.  It was a sad day at the nursing home this morning indeed.  

Robert Bornstein

www.robbornstein.com 

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Healing Power of Roses on #rosechat radio

On Saturday morning, March 23, tune in to #rosechat radio and learn about the healing power of roses.  As a horticulture therapist, roses play an important role in my healing engaging activities.

Currently I work with seniors and roses play an important role in their memories.  What did the flower girl drop on the floor on their wedding day?  Rose petals.  What flowers did they get from their husbands for special occasions? Roses.  What parade did they watch every New Years Day?  The rose parade.  What was one of their favorite flowers to grow in their gardens?  Roses.

My residents love to hold a rose and the first thing they do is hold the flower to their nose.  I only grow the most fragrant roses.  As we age our senses diminish. Some seniors I work with have lost their sense of smell totally.

Over the years I have installed several rose gardens at nursing homes, independent senior living facilities and assisted living apartments, senior activity centers, day programs, and Alzheimer units.

The thorns can become a health hazard to those on blood thinners, diabetics, and the frail elderly.  Be careful where you plant them.  I like them to be close enough to have access but not in the way so they get scratched as they walk or wheel themselves by the bushes.

All the above roses are photos from my backyard garden.  I love growing roses and always have bud vases in the kitchen and bathrooms with roses in them.  The link below is for the rose radio broadcast.  You can catch it live or listen at your leisure at any time after the broadcast.  Click on the link below to listen.

Rose chat radio guest Robert Bornstein explains the healing powers of the rose.

Thank you for stopping by my blog and see you again soon.


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How to make your garden therapeutic with white flowers

I used to yawn at white flowers in the garden.  Boring!  Bring on the color!  I changed my mind when I once saw a formal garden with only white flowering trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals.  The garden was understated and elegant.  Various shades of green sparkled with a dab  of white here, a splash of white there. 

There is therapeutic value in white flowers as well.  For the vision impaired, the white flowers “pop” at dusk.  The white flowers are similar to road reflectors on major highways.  The flowers act as a guide in the garden. They lead you in the right direction and can act as spotlights at nightfall.   Think of white flowers as a highlighter marker for a book. 

Too much white flowers during the day may hurt people with sensitive eyes.  People with blue eyes or macular degeneration need sunglasses for protection. White flowers work best with curves on a walkway as guideposts, or as a contrast to dark green leaves or as a low plant near a border.

This blog is written by a registered Horticulture Therapist with the American Horticulture Therapy Association.  To learn more visit here.

This YouTube video offers a brief explanation of how horticulture therapy heals. Please subscribe to my Garden/Food/Horticulture Therapy channel. Robert Bornstein on YouTube

Thank you for stopping by.  New next post will be about how to make a delicious mango smoothie!

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