Our Therapy Garden
At Garrett Counseling, our mission is to provide our clients with exceptional mental health care. One of the tools we utilize to create a welcoming environment for healing and growth is our therapy garden at our Jacksonville, Alabama location.
Garrett Counseling’s owner/director, Dr. Ashley Garrett, PhD, LPCS, RPTS, NCC, has always had an appreciation for flowers and gardens. Her appreciation for nature began as a child when she would spend time with her grandfather in his gardens. Now as an adult, she enjoys keeping fresh cut flowers around her home and office. This appreciation for nature is what eventually led her to create our therapy garden in Jacksonville.
Garrett Counseling began the process of brainstorming for the garden with garden designer Bob Elam. We drew inspiration from Dr. Ashley Garrett’s travels, as well as garden designers such as Oudolf and Kinsbury. We work alongside Bob Elam and Quint Davis from Davis Landscaping each year to enhance the garden by adding new plants and replacing those that have died. In the most recent season, the therapy garden saw the addition of a small rose garden as well as a variety of bulbs on the external fence. Upcoming plans include the expansion of our seasonal bulbs and the addition of an herb garden for sensory work in therapy.
How is it Used?
Our therapy garden in Jacksonville, Alabama, is primarily used for therapy with our clients and for counselor renewal between their sessions. However, we do provide a variety of free community events in the garden throughout the year, including yoga and meditation groups. We also host continuing education training sessions for counselors throughout the southeast on incorporating nature into therapy.
Therapy Garden’s Benefits
To understand the benefits of our therapy garden in Jacksonville, Alabama, we asked our counselors and garden designer Bob Elam to share their perspectives:
Therapy Garden Honors
Our therapy garden in Jacksonville, Alabama is the recipient of several honors:
Calhoun County Beautification Award (2017)
Jacksonville Garden Club Beautification Award
Certified Wildlife Garden: Certifying our therapy garden with the National Wildlife Federation means that our garden offers wildlife food, water, cover, and places to raise their young. It also means that we practice sustainable practices to maintain our garden. You can learn more about certified wildlife habitats here.
Garden Lover’s Resources
Our favorite plant recommendations for home gardens are Russian Sage and Blackeyed Susans. Both of these are easy to grow, require little maintenance, and are perfect to cut and keep in vases around your home. These plants also have beautiful deadheads that you can leave in your garden until after winter, which provides depth to your garden through the cold season.
Additional Resources:
Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf – This is a documentary about landscape designer, Piet Oudolf.
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate―Discoveries from A Secret World (The Mysteries of Nature, 1) – This book by Peter Wohllenben explores how trees are like human families.
Making the Most of Shade: How to Plan, Plant, and Grow a Fabulous Garden that Lightens up the Shadows – This book by Larry Hodgson details all the aspects of shade gardening from the basics to problem solving once you’ve gotten started.
A Year of Forest School: Outdoor Play and Skill-building Fun for Every Season – This book by Jane Worroll and Peter Houghton offers ideas to encourage outdoor play in every season.