English Gardens is helping to support a plant therapy program at a residential treatment facility for incarcerated youth to help rehabilitate the hearts and minds of their residents. We’ve asked the Center’s Clinical Services Manager to write about the program. Here’s her story:

By Jade Frederick, LMSW Those within the gardening community understand the therapeutic benefits of taking care of plants. A plant owner must ensure the plants’ wellbeing by providing nurturance: food, water, sun…and yes, love. A plant then, undoubtedly, can become much more than a “plant.” By creating this attachment with plants, both owners and plant reap the benefits of this bond.

Imagine taking this idea, (plant care as “therapeutic”), and using it to help rehabilitate the hearts and minds of incarcerated youth? Spectrum Juvenile Justice Services (SJJS) consists of two high-secure treatment facilities for incarcerated boys, ages 11-20, in Highland Park, Michigan. Although there are specialized units within these facilities to treat specific needs (such as substance abuse), each youth will complete the SJJS program following the Forward Focused Model. The Forward Focused Model is designed to treat what a lot of our youth have in common: they have experienced some form of trauma. At SJJS we are treating the root (no pun attended) of the problem: treating the trauma to change the criminal mindset. That is where English Gardens comes in.

SJJS approached English Gardens in the spring of 2016 to help pilot a “Plant Care” program. The first step was a presentation for selected youth by Tracy Campbell, one of English Gardens’ plant experts and a manager at the West Bloomfield store. Those in attendance were youth whom reached the stage in their treatment where they are asked to reflect on attachment and relationships within their lives. Tracy explained how to take care of a plant within our unique environment, then, each participate received their own Polka Dot plant! They asked many questions, decorated their pots, and even named their plants! (Baby Tay is one of the favorites).

The Plant Care program at SJJS continues to expand with the support of English Gardens. New plants are distributed monthly, the seminars are now facilitated by youth already participating in the program, and, we continue to see the benefit of adding plant care to the youths’ daily routine. Those youth participating in plant care have noted the following life lessons plant care has taught them, thus far:

• Independence
•  Empathy
•  Relationship building
• Coping skills
• A new hobby
• About nature
• “Restorative justice”
• Life skills, and
• Grief and loss.

Plant ownership is much more than creating an esthetically pleasing landscape; plant care can help heal our hearts from even the deepest of pain.

Throughout 2017, English Gardens and SJJS will continue to promote health and wellness within the Plant Care program. How have plants improved your life?