A Standup Garden is a low cost, high visibility addition to an institutional activities or therapy program.
1. Standup Gardens can help your residents gain independence, develop increased attention span, learn new skills and make new friends as they work cooperatively towards common goals.
2. The therapeutic benefits of gardening are well recognized. There is a growing body of literature on the subject. The American Horticultural Therapy Association is 30 years old, (originally formed in 1973 as the National Council for Therapy Rehabilitation through Horticulture). The AHTA has members nationwide, in Canada, Japan and abroad.
3. The Standup Garden is the basis for group activity. It allows the group to work collectively with minimum staff involvement.
4. The activity at a Standup Garden taps the knowledge and thereby the involvement of users. Often, residents may know more about gardening than staff, thereby building their sense of competence and self-worth.
5. A Standup Garden is virtually a turn-key solution. We supply not only the gardening system, but also the grow mix and tools. No staff training is required. Planning and planting are part of the activity.
6. Maintenance of Standup Gardens is minimal – inside or outside, they require very little care to the system. They can be moved easily within your facility on the standard wheels.
7. A Standup Garden is an ideal focus for volunteer activity. Kiwanis, Rotary, Scouts or Garden Clubs are potential sources of free energy, labor, funds and community involvement in your program.
8. Unlike ordinary raised beds, Standup Gardens can be moved to the most convenient spot for gardening activity. Mobility makes it available to the entire population of a facility, increasing utilization rates. Given labor and materials costs, it is also less expensive than a raised bed garden. Thinking About Building Your Own Raised Bed Garden?
9. Since they can be moved indoors or outdoors, Standup Gardens are available for program activity 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
10. Gardening is an easy-to-grasp, emotionally laden activity that can contribute to the marketing, fund-raising and promotional program of your institution.
Standup Gardens start at under two thousand dollars, complete and delivered. How else could you use this amount of money and get a greater return on the investment for your institution?