It’s Not Garden Therapy: The Real Science of Plants and People

Ping calls it “garden therapy.” Dr. Sheri Dorn gently corrects her — and that correction opens up a whole world.

Episode Description

Ping sits down with her colleague and friend Dr. Sheri Dorn, who took on a new role at the University of Georgia in August as assistant professor of socio-horticulture and horticultural therapy. Within the first two minutes, Sheri lovingly catches Ping using the loose term “garden therapy” — and that small correction becomes the thread that runs through the whole conversation. There’s a real difference between horticultural therapy (a clinical setting with a therapist, a client, and a goal), therapeutic horticulture (the benefits of a group gardening session), and socio-horticulture (the big bucket that holds every economic, environmental, social, and health benefit plants give us). Sorting those terms out turns out to be the difference between a feel-good hobby and a documented science.

From there the conversation ranges across Sheri’s path into the field — a childhood spent in an enormous inherited family vegetable garden, her mentorship under People-Plant Council pioneer Dr. Diane Relf at Virginia Tech, and the “plant magic” she first watched happen in community gardens. She walks through the research that explains why gardening lowers cortisol and blood pressure, why how often you garden matters as much as that you do it at all, and the landmark 1980s hospital-window study that showed surgery patients recovered faster when they could see a garden instead of a brick wall.

If you’re a grower, there’s a marketing message here you can take to the bank. If you’re a plant enthusiast, there’s a clear, encouraging on-ramp: try a basil cutting, sow some lettuce, call your county Extension office, and build from there. And if you’ve ever joked that gardening is cheaper than a therapist, Sheri has thoughts about that very expensive tomato.

Listen Time: 48:38

Follow Along with this Episode’s Transcript

In This Episode

Guest

Dr. Sheri Dorn — Assistant Professor of Socio-Horticulture and Horticultural Therapy, UGA Department of Horticulture & State Botanical Garden of Georgia. Formerly the State of Georgia Master Gardener coordinator. Bachelor’s and master’s in horticulture from Virginia Tech (working under Dr. Diane Relf and the People-Plant Council), PhD from the University of Georgia. She is building UGA’s new horticultural therapy certificate program.

Main Topics

• Meet Dr. Sheri Dorn and her new role (00:51)
• From a family vegetable garden to Virginia Tech (04:19)
• Learning from a pioneer: Dr. Diane Relf and the People-Plant Council (06:02)
• The “plant magic” of community gardens (08:02)
• Defining the terms: therapy, therapeutic horticulture, socio-horticulture (09:45)
• Why gardening makes us feel good — cortisol, blood pressure, memory (12:03)
• The biggest misconception: not all gardening is therapy (15:17)
• How often you garden matters (17:48)
• The hospital window: Roger Ulrich’s landmark study (20:19)
• The economic value of plants and landscapes (22:41)
• Choosing plants around the client’s goals (25:03)
• A marketing message for the green industry (28:12)
• Post-pandemic trends in horticultural therapy (30:44)
• What an effective program looks like + training and certification (34:51)
• Getting started: simple activities for beginners (38:36)
• Sheri’s vision for the program (44:15)

Key Highlights

• Three terms, one correction. Horticultural therapy is clinical — therapist, client, goal, with horticulture as the pathway. Therapeutic horticulture is the looser group setting. Socio-horticulture is the broad umbrella for every human benefit of plants. Most of what people call “garden therapy” actually lives in the socio-horticulture bucket.
• Frequency is the finding. Some of the most useful recent research shows the benefits of gardening track with how often you do it — like exercise. A one-off patio container won’t deliver the therapeutic payoff that a regular, recurring practice does.
• The hospital window. In a study from the early ’90s, gallbladder-surgery patients whose rooms overlooked a garden had shorter stays and needed fewer pain medications than patients facing a brick wall.
• Don’t forget the horticulturalist. Sheri’s recurring concern: as the medical community drives more horticultural-therapy research, the person who actually knows how to grow and troubleshoot the plants gets left off the team — and the work suffers for it.
• The on-ramp is low. Root a grocery-store basil sleeve in a glass of water, sow lettuce, plant a paper white narcissus, and call your county Extension office. Small successes build the confidence (and the habit) that the science says matters.

Key Quotes

“I like to say that my parents nearly killed my career in horticulture before it got started, because it was — honest to goodness, Ping — it was the family vegetable garden, and we had a huge one.” — Dr. Sheri Dorn (04:21)

“Those people, nine times out of ten, would not speak to each other if they ran into each other in the grocery store… But they have bonded over growing the plants.” — Dr. Sheri Dorn, on community gardens (08:55)

“I think the biggest misconception is that all gardening is therapy.” — Dr. Sheri Dorn (15:17)

“It was very clear that the patients that viewed the garden had a shorter hospital stay, took fewer pain medications, and they were less obnoxious, essentially… They were better patients, Ping.” — Dr. Sheri Dorn, on the Ulrich study (21:11)

“Don’t forget the people side of plants. We won’t have an industry if there aren’t people buying our plants.” — Dr. Sheri Dorn (30:19)

Educational Highlights

• Horticultural therapy — A clinical practice built on three things: a therapist, a client, and a goal (to heal, strengthen, recover, learn skills, or make social connections), with gardening as the pathway to that goal. It draws on cognitive science, psychology, counseling, and physical and occupational medicine — but the practitioner’s first training is in plants.
• Therapeutic horticulture — A less formal, usually group setting where the gardening activity produces positive benefits without tracking individually prescribed goals.
• Socio-horticulture — The broad term for all human benefits of plants: economic, environmental, social, community, health, and wellbeing. Self-directed gardening that simply makes you feel good lives here, not in clinical “therapy.”
• Why the body responds — Gardening is associated with cortisol reduction and lower blood pressure. Scent from plants like rosemary, lavender, roses, and gardenia works through brain pathways tied to memory. Part of the relaxation comes from a shift out of the office’s intense, narrow focus into the gentler, fascinated attention the garden invites.
• Attention restoration & the Ulrich study — Roger Ulrich (a psychologist) analyzed hospital records of gallbladder-surgery patients; those who could see a landscaped garden recovered faster and used fewer pain medications than those facing a brick wall — early behavioral evidence for what plants do for us.
• The economic case — A landscape investment can return more at resale than a kitchen renovation; well-landscaped homes tend to sell faster and help establish a desirable “sense of place.” Sheri also notes the flip side: over-complex landscapes can overwhelm buyers, and rising desirability can push taxes up, so keep communities involved in the decisions.
• Choosing plants by goal, not by species — Plant choice follows the client’s goal: non-toxic options for clients who put things in their mouth; scent, flower, or color to spark memory (Sheri’s lifelong snapdragon association with her mother); textured leaves like oakleaf hydrangea or a prickly holly for sensory work; easily propagated plants for vocational/production goals.
• Certification — UGA is building a horticultural therapy certificate: at minimum 12 hours of horticultural therapy coursework layered onto a foundation in growing plants plus human-sciences training. It draws students and working professionals alike — horticulturalists, educators, nurses, occupational and physical therapists.
• Beginner propagation win — A grocery-store basil sleeve placed in a vase of water will root in under a week — you’ve propagated a plant. Paper white narcissus bulbs (nose up, basal plate down) bloom in about five to six weeks.

Resources & Links

• Website: bandbpod.com
• Dr. Sheri Dorn — reachable through the UGA Department of Horticulture; a dedicated horticultural therapy program website is in development. Contact information is available on the department webpage.
• People-Plant Council — the national group founded by Dr. Diane Relf (Virginia Tech) in the early 1990s.
• UGA horticultural therapy certificate program — in development at the University of Georgia.
• Your county Extension office — every county in Georgia has one; staff and Master Gardener volunteers offer research-based, unbiased horticulture guidance and publications.
• State Botanical Garden of Georgia — partner in Dr. Dorn’s appointment, with a conservation and native-plant focus.

About Blooms and Beyond

Blooms and Beyond explores plant history, culture, and management through the lens of science. Whether you’re a commercial grower seeking practical solutions, a student exploring careers in horticulture, or simply someone who loves plants and their stories, there’s something here for you. Hosted by Dr. Ping Yu of the University of Georgia, each episode features interviews with experts who share enchanting stories, cutting-edge research, and practical wisdom from the world of horticulture.

Your benefit: After each episode, commercial growers will have at least one useful tip for their operation, and plant enthusiasts will have an interesting fact to share. That’s how we spread plant power to more people and make our environment a little better.

Credits

Host: Dr. Ping Yu Producer: Rich Braman Guest: Dr. Sheri Dorn, Assistant Professor of Socio-Horticulture and Horticultural Therapy, UGA Department of Horticulture & State Botanical Garden of Georgia Support: American Floral Endowment Educational Grant

Episode Release Date: June 7, 2026 Episode Length: 48:38

“Till next time, stay healthy and go plants!” 🌱