Therapeutic Gardening for Seniors with Memory Loss [Nicole Irigoyen MPA ’23]

Nicole comprehensively describes her work tasks at Eldergrow. Eldergrow is a local organization focused on horticultural therapy for seniors suffering from illnesses related to memory loss. … Continue reading Therapeutic Gardening for Seniors with Memory Loss [Nicole Irigoyen MPA ’23]


In July 2021, I began working with Eldergrow, an organization that provides horticultural therapy to seniors living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia who are advanced in their illnesses and living in memory care facilities. Horticultural therapy, also known as therapeutic gardening, is the art and practice of connecting people to nature through hands-on and sensory experiences. People with limited mobility can connect to plants in all kinds of ways, like caring for plants, using plant materials for art, digging in the dirt, or even observing greenspace in a well-planned therapeutic garden. Horticultural therapy is often used to provide pathways to healing and rehabilitation for vulnerable populations.

My first task from Eldergrow was to set up the garden, so with a budget of $110, I stretched every dollar to purchase plants that varied in texture, color, height, and leaf shape.  This keeps the garden interesting and draws one’s eyes. Even in this small garden, I was able to make sure that purple, orange, yellow, red, magenta, white, and all shades of green were represented. 

Horticultural therapy can reduce stress levels, increase feelings independence, reduce physical discomfort, increase awareness, reduced blood pressure, and increased in positive emotions.

In my training, I learned that gardening is so powerful that it can save lives. In fact, in a study that provided house plants to those in elderly care, the mortality rate of residents decreased by half. Giving an individual a sense of stability, responsibility, and control over their surroundings—for example by giving them a plant to take care of—has both mental and physical health benefits. Horticultural therapy can reduce stress levels, increase feelings independence, reduce physical discomfort, increase awareness, reduced blood pressure, and increased in positive emotions.

This experiential learning program allowed me to explore a relatively new passion that I might not have otherwise had the change to “dig” into. This experience was a way for me to bridge my passion for serving vulnerable communities and my dedication to plants and environmental stewardship.

Every week, I would bring a new plant to live in the garden, share some information about the theme of the week, and lead an activity. One activity, I brought in fresh plants and leaves, a cloth, and a rolling pin. Residents were able to lay out the plant materials to make an arrangement, and then roll and apply pressure to the plants to create imprints on the cloth. In this way, the natural color pigments of flowers and leaves can be transferred into fabric by applying pressure through or pounding or rolling. In another activity, I brought all different types of tree leaves and taught a lesson about the difference between evergreen trees and deciduous trees (the trees that lose all their leaves in the fall). Then, together we made a garland from the tree leaves. 

This experiential learning program allowed me to explore a relatively new passion that I might not have otherwise had the change to “dig” into.

A horticultural therapist also helps people to engage, even when mobility is limited. For some residents, they needed hand-over-hand support. In this case, I put my hands above and below their hands, and help them perform the activity. For example, I helped a resident paint the artwork below using this technique. In memory care facilities, touch is very limited, especially in times of COVID, so this was a great way to let residents know that they are cared for. 

In conclusion, this experiential learning project not only benefited me, but also allowed people experiencing memory illness to experience activities, textures, smells, and plants that heal.