Plowing new ground

I recently received an e-missive about a new market for garden centers: horticultural therapy. According to Hank Bruce, a hort therapist, garden writer and consultant, the time is right for progressive garden centers to profit from a horticultural therapy mini-department as a part of their presentation.

“This would be a pathway to increased sales, particularly in the off seasons,” Bruce suggests. “It will bring new customers into the garden center and keep them coming back. It could also bring great free local publicity as this rapidly growing therapeutic field gains media recognition. The American Horticultural Therapy Association and its regional chapters provide a professional resource for our garden center customers who wish to use a professional in an ongoing basis or for consultation.”

Bruce and colleague Tomi Jill Folk market a number of garden center-specific publications and guides on the subject through Petals & Pages Press. “We can assist in developing a product line of special tools, books and videos to answer these community needs in a variety of HT venues, ranging from senior care to school gardening and community gardening programs,” Bruce says. “We are developing a series of short information sheets on various aspects of horticultural therapy for garden center customers. Some of these could even be posted on Web sites.”

For more information on the subject, contact Bruce or Folk at petals_pages@msn.com or  hungergrowaway@q.com.

-- Yale

Comments

[greg draiss]

No dice in New York.................
anything called therapy needs a license and all the bull crap registartion

skip the fancy names...garden coach and therapy ad call it what it is

GARDENING

Greg Draiss