By Beth Burwinkel
Enquirer contributor

Laurie Renz (right), coordinator of the University of Cincinnati's new horticultural therapy program, visits with student Lynn McMains in the greenhouse at Clermont College. (University of Cincinnati photo)

Few had heard of horticultural therapy nine years ago when Jan Doherty decided to change careers - from a microbiologist to a self-employed professional helping people improve their lives through gardening.

Horticultural therapists such as Doherty work with people in nursing homes, prisons or hospitals. Some work with the disabled or children.

"It's nice to know at the end of the day that you have made a difference in somebody's life," Doherty says.

The region soon will have a fresh crop of horticultural therapists. This fall the University of Cincinnati began a certificate and associate degree program in horticultural therapy.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

University of Cincinnati's horticultural therapy certificate is a 28-credit hour program requiring four horticultural therapy classes, several horticulture and counseling classes and a field experience. The associate degree is a two-year program. Most of the classes are at Clermont College, but the university is considering ways to accommodate more students. For more information, contact program coordinator Laurie Renz, 732-5266.

ABOUT THE THERAPISTS

The American Horticultural Therapy Association (www.ahta.org) recently surveyed its 850 members. Among the findings: • Median starting salary: $20,000-$24,999. • About 89 percent are women. • 23 percent work in nursing homes and assisted-living centers; 22 percent work in hospitals; 10 percent in parks and botanical gardens; 10 percent in academia; 9 percent in community-based programs; 26 percent responded with "other."

About 15 students enrolled in the first class. Laurie Renz, program coordinator, hopes UC eventually will offer a bachelor's degree in horticultural therapy.

"I'd like to see it become a regional program since there are only a half dozen or so in the country," Renz says.

Maria Busemeyer of Price Hill was a student in UC's horticulture program when a professor told her about the new horticultural therapy program.

"It just felt like the right move to make," says Busemeyer.

"There are plenty of opportunities for a horticultural therapist," says Doherty, of Eastgate, whose company is Growing Healthy Inc. "It's a new field and it's wide-open."

People have known about the therapeutic benefits of gardening for centuries. In the 1800s, a Pennsylvania doctor noticed that people with mental disabilities benefited from working in a garden. By the 1940s, garden club volunteers brought horticulture to patients at veterans hospitals. Michigan State University issued the first graduate degree in horticultural/occupational therapy in 1955.

During the winter quarter, UC's horticultural therapy students will work with adults and older children at Redwood School and Rehabilitation Center in Fort Mitchell.

Redwood Executive Director Barbara Howard says clients get excited working with the dirt and plants and feeling the sunshine on their hands.

E-mail GardenStories@cinci.rr.com