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Therapy Garden at Bullington Center
As spring gets growing, so too does the cutting-edge Therapy Garden at Hendersonville's Bullington Center, a horticultural-learning, arboretum and public-garden venue that hosts classes for all ages and abilities. Currently, the Therapy Garden features wheelchair-accessible raised beds, highly scented and tactile plantings recommended by the American Horticultural Therapy Association, and a water feature designed to instill feelings of calm and reflection.
Behind the serene scenes, however, plans are being administered to expand the garden, making it attractive to an even wider segment of potential visitors. A tool shed is being filled with special-needs-adaptable gardening implements, and funds are marked for the much-anticipated addition of a handicapped-accessible greenhouse to house year-round activities.
"The therapy garden is not quite complete, but getting close," says coordinator John Murphy. "The idea started when I was working with my BOOST students [area high-schoolers with special needs]. We realized we lived in a community where there are many students in the school system who have some disability -- developmental, physical, etc. -- and a large retirement community with folks suffering age-related disabilities. We wanted to have a garden that would accommodate them and give people ideas about making gardening accessible."
