TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Nicci Radhe spends about two hours each day tending to the plants in her garden, which have become both a passion and a business venture. What began as a hobby blossomed during the pandemic when Radhe was focusing on her sobriety.
“At a time when I didn’t even want to get out of bed because I was so depressed and lost and struggling with sobriety, it gave me a reason to not just get out of bed, but like, jump up out of bed, run out to my yard, see what was blooming, see what was sprouting, take care of those things,” said Radhe, owner of Horny Toad Horticulture.
What Radhe didn’t realize at first was that each time she nurtured a plant, she was also nurturing herself. Gardening, it turns out, is a powerful form of therapy, one that Radhe unknowingly embraced.
According to Philippa Johnstone, director of therapeutic horticulture at Tucson Botanical Gardens, horticultural therapy involves both passive and active engagement with nature.
"For example, being out here right now and listening to the symphony of hummingbirds and a trickle of water... All of those small, subtle sensory experiences contribute to the reduction of cortisol, lowering of the heart rate," Johnstone said.
But she also explained the physical part of horticultural therapy.
"We're getting people to put on gloves, get their hands in the soil, use tools and interact with something living,” Johnstone said. “That component of actually working with a living thing really gives people personal responsibility, so they're now in charge of taking care of something as opposed to being the recipient of care.”
Though the horticultural therapy program at Tucson Botanical Gardens has been around since the 1980s, it has been revitalized in recent years — restarting some of the programs that were closed because of the pandemic, and also expanding to new groups that they've never served before.
"It is the involvement of people who have some type of disability or mental illness, or who are struggling in some way due to an unfortunate life circumstance, and really using horticulture as a way for them to work through whatever they're going through," Johnstone explained, referring to examples like recovering from an injury, addiction recovery, or job skills training.
One of their newest partnerships is with the Southwestern Blind Rehabilitation Center, affiliated with the VA, to assist veterans with visual impairments. They also work with Synergy AZ, an adult day program for individuals with developmental disabilities.
"We've also recently done some cool programming with an organization called Arizona Free Arts, and they work with youth who have experienced trauma," Johnstone added.
Johnstone said groups interested in the program are asked to pay what they can, with a fee of no more than $15 per person. However, they understand that many participants are nonprofits and may have limited funding for this type of program.
During programming, Johnstone explained that she likes to gently guide people to find the parallels between gardening and their own lives — for instance, pruning and removing weeds in a garden.
"If there's an aspect of your life that is not serving you, not helping you succeed, or promoting your goals, cut it out," she said. "Just like in a garden, not every plant or branch needs to be there. You need to identify those areas in your life and remove them, just like you would prune a garden."
Radhe found her own parallels. “We need sunlight. We need water. We need all these things. And like when you're an addict and you're not taking care of your health, you never think about those things at all,” Radhe explained.
It only took one sunflower seed to sprout a new outlook on life. “If I wanted to be healthy and thrive like a sunflower or a chard or an artichoke or whatever it is that I was caring for, I realized that I needed to give myself the same care that I was giving to these plants,” she said.
Johnstone said they plan to expand the horticultural therapy space at the Tucson Botanical Gardens with raised beds, making it easier for groups to access and grow organic produce, vegetables, herbs, and fruit.
It's really just going to help us increase that direct connection between people and plants," Johnstone said.
The renovation is expected to be completed by late April.
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Maria Staubs joined KGUN 9 as a multimedia journalist and producer in July of 2024. Her passion for writing and storytelling stems from anchoring her middle school’s news show and editing her high school’s yearbook. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication with a minor in film and media production, as well as a master's degree in mass communication. You can email Maria at maria.staubs@kgun9.com or reach out to her on X/Twitter or Instagram.
