2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Horticulture has been used for therapeutic purposes for more than 100 years, though scientific understanding of how and why it is so effective for human healing and well-being is relatively new. The dramatic increase in health care costs in recent years has provided incentive to more fully explore consumer horticulture’s impact on or role in physical and psychological health at the individual and community level. This presentation provides opportunity to discuss how horticulture can play a prominent role in the research and outreach collaborations with those contiguous to the human health realm, including medical doctors, therapists, psychologists, and human ecologists. It offers us a way to take a fresh look at the profession and practice of consumer horticulture and its influence on the ways in which we live and interact.