Integrator
Branching Out
You’re an experienced professional looking to expand your toolkit. You’ve seen the value of nature in enhancing health, and now you want to integrate therapeutic horticulture into your existing scope of care. This path is designed to help you apply plant-based practices in meaningful, measurable, and evidence-informed ways, all without disrupting your current role or credentials.
As a health or human services professional, you’ve likely seen how meaningful progress happens through connection—between people, and between people and the spaces that support their healing.
Whether you’ve already introduced plant-based activities into your practice, or you’re just beginning to explore how therapeutic horticulture (TH) could align with your clinical or community work, this path is here to help you grow with intention.
You’re not starting from scratch—you’re branching out.
Understanding your path: HT vs. TH
Before diving into next steps, it’s important to understand how therapeutic horticulture differs from horticultural therapy, and why that distinction matters for how you integrate this work into your role.
We’ve created a short video to walk you through the differences, so you can move forward with clarity, confidence, and alignment to your scope of practice.
Horticultural Therapy (HT)
is a clinical practice facilitated by a registered horticultural therapist. It involves structured, goal-oriented activities designed to achieve specific therapeutic outcomes within an established treatment or rehabilitation plan.
Therapeutic Horticulture (TH)
is a professionally facilitated practice that uses gardening, and other plant and nature-based activities to support people in working toward their health and wellbeing goals. Many clinicians also integrate therapeutic horticulture training with their professional credentials to support goal-driven, clinically meaningful outcomes.
You don’t need to become a registered horticultural therapist to bring evidence-based, nature-connected interventions into your work.
Therapeutic horticulture is a flexible, ethically grounded way to strengthen your practice while staying aligned with your current role and credentials. At Root in Nature, we recognize that many working professionals don’t have the time, interest, or financial capacity to pursue college-level horticultural therapy programs—especially when much of the content overlaps with prior education.
That’s why we focus on reducing barriers by offering accessible, affordable therapeutic horticulture education for allied health professionals who already bring strong clinical insight and real-world experience from their fields.
Root in Nature provides education and support in therapeutic horticulture, not clinical horticultural therapy. At the same time, the GrowTH Network is designed to be a valuable community for both TH and HT practitioners—because regardless of title or setting, we often share goals, approaches, and a commitment to safe, meaningful practice.
If, after watching the video, you decide horticultural therapy is the better fit, you can explore formal training through organizations such as the American and Canadian Horticultural Therapy Associations. And if therapeutic horticulture feels like the right next step, we’re here to support you.
Begin your therapeutic horticulture learning
Starting your journey in therapeutic horticulture doesn’t look the same for everyone. Some learners want a structured, guided path that supports confident, intentional practice from start to finish. If that’s you, our certificate program is outlined below. Some learners would like flexible, self-paced courses they can use to supplement their skill-sets. If that’s you, you can explore our courses:
The Therapeutic Horticulture Certificate Program
If you’re ready to build a strong, comprehensive foundation in therapeutic horticulture practice, the Therapeutic Horticulture Certificate Program offers a complete, guided learning experience that moves from foundational principles through to facilitation and program development.
Who is this program for?
This program is designed for those who want a deeper understanding of TH practice and program administration, supported by expert feedback, clear milestones, and intentional skill-building.
This program is ideal if you:
- have no prior experience working with plants or people
- are an allied health professional, educator, activity coordinator, or wellness practitioner who has a genuine interest in developing or integrating meaningful, nature-based practice into your work
- are looking to build practical and advanced skills amongst a network of peers and expert instructors
- are wanting the most comprehensive level of TH training possible that still fits within your schedule
What will I learn?
You’ll learn:
- Therapeutic horticulture theory and practice
- How to design and/or oversee the creation of therapeutic gardens & environments
- How to align and document nature-based activities with participant goals and outcomes
- Development, facilitation, and adaptation strategies for diverse populations, using real world examples
- How to design, propose, and manage TH programs
- General and TH-specific horticulture and gardening skills
- How to choose and integrate traditional and adaptive gardening tools
How does the learning experience work?
This program combines two online coures: Introduction to Therapeutic Horticulture and Therapeutic Horticulture Facilitation, Design and Practice. Therapeutic Horticulture Facilitation, Design and Practice includes with expert instructor support, reflection points, and opportunities for feedback, ensuring you stay on track as you deepen your therapeutic horticulture practice and build confidence in real-world application.
What will I receive?
Successful completion of both courses results in a Therapeutic Horticulture certificate and digital badge.
Looking to bring therapeutic horticulture to your team?
Check out our Team Training Program designed to help organizations implement TH confidently among larger teams or multiple locations.
Join the GrowTH Network
As an allied health professional, you’re not just learning something new—you’re layering therapeutic horticulture into an already dynamic care practice. That takes more than a course. It takes community, continued learning, and resources you can trust.
That’s what the GrowTH Network offers.This professional ecosystem is designed to help you confidently implement, adapt, and grow your therapeutic horticulture practice with support, while saving you time, energy, and expense at every stage. The GrowTH Network serves as the bridge between what you’ve learned and how you’ll apply it in real-world practice.
What the GrowTH Network includes
Activity Database
A searchable collection of therapeutic horticulture activities categorized by population, setting, and therapeutic goal – ready to implement or adapt.
Resource Library
A robust curated collection of practical, customizable tools to support your programs.
Practitioner Support Calls
Monthly live, guided conversations with an experienced TH/HT professional and fellow practitioners to share challenges, ideas, and encouragement.
Online Events with Guest Experts
Ongoing professional development opportunities tailored to this field and your real-world questions.
Evidence at your fingertips
As a health professional, you understand the importance of clinical reasoning, measurable outcomes, and evidence-informed practice. If you’re planning to bring therapeutic horticulture into your workplace or care model, you’ll likely be asked: Does it really work?
The Root in Nature Research Database is designed to help you answer that question with clarity and confidence.
What You’ll Find
- Peer-reviewed studies highlighting the therapeutic impact of nature-based programs across physical, mental, and social domains
- Searchable tags by population (e.g., dementia, youth, veterans) and setting (e.g., long-term care, rehab, community health)
- Summarized insights that help you integrate evidence into your planning, documentation, or funding proposals
- Examples and data that align with your clinical or organizational goals—without requiring hours of searching
Whether you’re preparing to pitch a new program, soliciting program funding, looking to meet documentation standards, or simply want to stay aligned with best practices, the database gives you the backup you need to move forward with confidence.
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