On the south side of UF’s campus, between UF Health Shands Hospital and IFAS’s research greenhouses, is a small team making a deep impact. The greenhouse at Wilmot Botanical Gardens is home to UF’s Therapeutic Horticulture Program, where participants build connections to nature, to others, and to themselves. For many who have spent time in their space, the work offers a sense of calm, purpose, and community.
The offerings within Therapeutic Horticulture are designed to improve quality of life through gardening while advancing research on how horticulture can support mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Collaborators can be found across UF/IFAS, UF Health, and the greater Gainesville community.
That work is gaining momentum through a recent grant from the Burpee Foundation, supporting expanded programming to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“We’ve been working with Life Transition Skills since 2018,” said Leah Diehl, the program’s director. “[This grant] allows us to enhance and expand the program and relationship we already have by being able to develop a more targeted curriculum with additional staff support, and add a second group.”
Life Transition Skills is a program that helps young adults with similar disabilities transition beyond the K–12 school system, providing life skills training, functional academics, and community engagement opportunities.
Their upcoming group is in partnership with New Creation Adult Day Training. The organization assists individuals with intellectual, developmental, physical, and mental health needs, providing personalized care that helps them live independently. Diehl specified that their shared work in the greenhouse promotes teamwork and problem-solving, while also increasing physical activity that supports overall health and well-being for those who may normally be sedentary. She added that learning new horticultural skills can build confidence and self-efficacy, with the variety of tasks providing cognitive engagement through hands-on learning. Additional support personnel will also help provide more individualized guidance and, equally important, build on emerging research behind the program.
A recent article in Frontiers in Psychology found that students who participated in therapeutic horticulture experienced significant reductions in stress and anxiety, along with measurable increases in resilience and academic resilience. The study concluded that therapeutic horticulture is a “promising intervention model” for improving student well-being and academic outcomes.
“We typically evaluate our programs through pre- and post-assessments, measuring things like stress, anxiety, and resilience,” Diehl said. “With the Burpee Foundation funding, we’re hoping to gather feedback not just from participants, but also their family members, caregivers, and teachers, to understand the wider benefits of the therapeutic horticulture curriculum.”
Diehl is helping move therapeutic horticulture beyond anecdotal evidence by evaluating ongoing programming to build a stronger, data-driven case for its role in improving health and quality of life.
This program was recently named the beneficiary of the 2026 Flavors of Florida event, receiving a portion of the proceeds and donations. With funding like this and the Burpee Grant, the team aims to extend those outcomes by increasing access and continuing to evaluate impact. The goal, according to Diehl, is to demonstrate how therapeutic horticulture can support diverse communities in measurable, lasting ways, with the potential to expand beyond UF and, hopefully, onto other campuses.
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