National Garden Bureau, American Meadows, and Sakata Seed America, in an effort to raise awareness of horticulture and the benefits of gardening, will grant $5,000 this fall to be split between these two therapeutic gardens located in North America. The top vote-getter will receive $3,000, and second place will receive $2,000. Corona Tools is proud to donate quality gardening tools to these important gardens. Watch the videos and decide which garden deserves your vote. VOTING BEGINS AT 12:01 AM CENTRAL TIME ON SEPTEMBER 15 AND ENDS AT 11:59 PM CENTRAL TIME ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2022.
Capper Foundation Gardens
The Capper Gardens consist of raised beds on a corner of their Topeka, Kansas campus, as well as raised and flat garden beds including many sensory components in their inner courtyard and container gardens at their residences. Pediatric therapists use the gardens to work on fine motor, gross motor and communication skills during individualized therapy sessions with the children. The adults they serve work alongside staff and volunteers to prepare and plant the gardens and care for them throughout the growing season. They also use the vegetables and herbs grown in the gardens in cooking classes offered at Capper. The Capper Gardens also provide staff, volunteers and people they serve the opportunity to get outside and enjoy the beauty of the garden spaces. Their plan for this grant is to purchase additional sensory components for the courtyard gardens, including plants and outdoor musical instruments, as well as containers, plants, seeds, and specialized container garden soil for all of the gardens.
Mary Free Bed Therapeutic Garden
One of the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital (MFB) Recreational Therapy offerings is horticulture therapy in an accessible therapy garden, which provides patients the opportunity to strengthen skills and connect with nature. Rehabilitation specialists work with patients on a variety of activities that focus on the skills needed to garden following an injury or illness, such as shopping to purchase seeds and tools, planting in raised beds, using gardening tools, and safely transitioning to uneven surfaces. The program also helps heal patients’ mental health. If selected for a grant, MFB would expand upon this program by creating a “Live Wall.” This Wall will be made entirely out of plants and will create a more intimate and healing therapy garden area for patients and visitors. The Wall will be positioned so that it blocks the view of the parking area, creating a calmer setting where patients and families can sit and experience a brief escape from a traditional hospital setting.