Vocational Horticulture Program - Focusing on gardening as a profession to enable people to join the workforce as productive individuals.  Examples might be people with developmental disabilities, injured workers, legal offenders, people with psychosocial disorders, people with traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries, and the socially/economically disadvantaged.  People are trained in specific skills to work independently or semi-independently.  One might find programs for vocational horticulture therapy in public schools, sheltered workshops, and correctional facilities.

Therapeutic Horticulture Program - Designed to assist people recovering from illnesses or injuries.  Therapeutic horticulture might work well for people who have had spinal cord injuries, people who have experienced traumatic brain injuries, who have had orthopedic injuries, aging adults, stroke survivors, people with chronic or terminal illnesses, and people with mental illness.  One might find programs for therapeutic horticulture in psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, and long-term residential care facilities.

Social Horticulture Program - Designed as a leisure activity for recreational purposes.  This type of therapy is especially good for the elderly, socially disadvantaged, homeless, people with disabilities.  One might find these programs in retirement homes, community gardens, residential group homes, and senior centers.

You can check the County Extension Office or the local office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to see if any programs exist in your area.

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