An important distinction for everyone in Therapeutic Horticulture research and practice to understand is that there are generally 2 terms used to distinguish the 2 key facilitations of plant, garden or nature-based therapy:

Horticulture Therapy (HT) – This means working towards specific clinical goals using horticulture (ie being in the garden or nature or working with plants). Clinical work relates to clinicians such as doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists and counsellors. In Australia this usually pertains to practice done by Allied Health professionals.

Therapeutic Horticulture (TH) – This means any use of gardening/horticulture which is done to experience the general benefits of being in the garden, around nature. This is when you are doing it with NO specific clinical goals in mind. However you may be working within a framework that includes goals. At KHG our work mostly falls under the term “Therapeutic Horticulture” since participants’ goals are mostly NDIS goals or self-determined and the Group Support Workers and Support Workers working with them are not practicing as clinicians, but what our Clinicians (the Therapeutic Supports team) do would often fall under the Horticulture Therapy definition.

The late Kevin Heinze was a well-known and much-loved celebrity gardener who innately recognised the value of plants and gardening for human health and wellbeing.

Working with the Kiwanis Club of Doncaster and Templestowe, Kevin established the Kevin Heinze Garden Centre in 1979 as a place where people with disabilities could come together to learn about the value of gardening.

The Doncaster/Templestowe Council (now Manningham Council) supported the initiative by securing the lease on the site in Wetherby Rd where the Centre still thrives today.

At Kevin Heinze GROW we have a model of practice which is called The GROW Model. This practice was established by Kevin Heinze and then passed down and developed over time within Kevin Heinze GROW. This model documents the way our staff practice therapeutic horticulture in order to maximise the therapeutic benefits of what we do, while serving a number of other purposes.

Introduction to the GROW Model

Overview of Group Outcomes

Overview of Individual Outcomes

As described in the GROW Model introduction video above, The GROW Model is made up of several chapters providing context before outlining key roles and elements of practice that make up the model.

The structure of the GROW Model

The Elements of Practice within The GROW Model

Kevin Heinze GROW Staff can access an electronic copy of The Model upon request, and staff and volunteers can view physical copies we have on site.
The following electronic resources are also available upon request:

• One-page summaries of key concepts in the model, including all Elements of Practice
• A powerpoint presentation about the context of the GROW model at Kevin Heinze GROW• One-page summaries of key concepts in the model, including all Elements of Practice
• All the research papers cited within the Model.

Learning, reflecting on and adding to the GROW Model is an ongoing process for all KHG staff to undertake.

Therapeutic Horticulture Australia (THA) is the leading professional body for Therapeutic Horticulture. They maintain a membership base of over 400 (as of early 2026) Therapeutic Horticulture professionals, and hold a bi-annual conference as well as symposiums, seminars, networking events and other opportunities. They are also a good point of contact for work and volunteer opportunities.

Becoming a member is a great way to access many resources to develop your own professional practice and profile. For non-members, there is still information available via the THA Facebook page and signing up to their email list on the THA website.

Therapeutic Horticulture Seminars and Resources

Trellis
Trellis are Scotland’s peak Therapeutic Hort body and they have an annual series of webinars which are mostly free (just require registration). A few of this year’s webinars (from March) have been put on Youtube. Their 2023 webinars were especially interesting – some were about similar settings and participants to KHG, and they’re from areas we don’t often hear from (such as the Caribbean and Ukraine).

Other organisations

Some other large professional organisations for our field of work overseas including the AHTA in USA and Thrive in England, and “Root in Nature” that are a Canada-based TH organisation offering resources, training and information to TH professionals.

Therapeutic Horticulture Research

A lot of research relevant to our work doesn’t strictly fall under the umbrella of Therapeutic Horticulture. It could be studies into the effects of plants on people, any nature-related therapy, biophilia, any sensory-related therapy or research and then of course anything disability and mental health related.
Often you can find new research by searching in research directories using terms like:

• Therapeutic Horticulture
• Biophilia
• Indoor Plants
• Indoor Greenery
• Nature-Based
• Nature-based Therapy
• Forest Therapy
• Horticultural Therapy

Assorted papers and HortJournal articles

There is a collection of academic papers in our file system which are relevant to our practice, as well as a series of articles published in HortJournal.
One particularly relevant paper is: “The Effect of Nature Prescriptions” published in the Lancet in April 2023. It is a paper important to our practice, relating to prescriptive nature-based therapies, meaning when a medical professional prescribes a Therapeutic Horticulture program. This is a direction where TH is heading in Australia and will match other countries where the profession is established in which public health bodies recommend that health professionals like GPs and physios prescribing time in nature as part of treatment.

Dr. Chris Reed’s Thesis

Also available in our file system is a thesis written by Dr. Chris Reed. It’s certainly not light reading but it has one of the most comprehensive summaries of TH practice and research up to the time of writing (2015). Dr. Chris Reed was involved with KHG for many years and completed this thesis for his PhD. This is a great read for anyone interested in a ‘deep-dive’ into the history and context of Therapeutic Horticulture in Australia.

Papers and other files

For more research and papers related to Therapeutic Horticulture please click on the button below.