1) Design of the horticultural therapy program based on structural recall
This study applied structural recall to horticultural therapy, where specific words or themes are provided and the participants are to recall them as indicated (
Son, 2011).
Fig. 1 shows horticultural therapy based on structural recall. The participants are to recall memories of seasonal materials and themes using various plants as a medium, and talk about their feelings after stimulation of the five senses and completion of their works. By doing so, they could release their suppressed emotions and unresolved issues, thereby finding proper exits and improving their functions.
Fig. 1
Design of a horticultural therapy program based on structural recall.
Based on Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development (
Erikson, 1950), we divided the stages in which one can remember into 5 stages – childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, adulthood and maturity – and applied structural recall horticultural therapy.
Fig. 2 and
Table 1 show the horticultural therapy program based on structural recall by stage.
Fig. 2
Design of a horticultural therapy program based on structural recall by developmental stage.
Table 1.
The sessions of the horticultural therapy program performed for this study.
No. |
Date |
Program |
Plant name |
No. |
Date |
Program |
Plant name |
1 |
5/02 |
Prior survey, flower arrangement |
Dianthus caryophyllus |
8 |
8/22 |
Frogbit water culture |
Hydrocharis dubia |
2 |
5/16 |
Dish garden |
Chamaedorea elegans |
9 |
9/05 |
Flower arrangement for huseok |
Helianthus annuus |
3 |
5/30 |
Potpourri fortune bag |
Rosa hybrida |
10 |
9/26 |
Bird nest making |
Stellaria media |
4 |
6/20 |
Pungran planting using charcoal |
Neofinetiz falcata |
11 |
10/17 |
Terrarium |
Codiaeum variegatum |
5 |
7/04 |
Fan making with pressed flowers |
Hydrangea macrophylla |
12 |
10/31 |
Flower arrangement for the Pepero Day |
Rosa hybrida |
6 |
7/18 |
Tillandsia wall mount making |
Tillandsia ionantha |
13 |
11/14 |
Lavender soap making |
Lavandula angustifolia |
7 |
8/01 |
Picture frame making |
Jasminum polyanthum |
14 |
11/28 |
Poinsettia planting, posterior survey |
Euphorbia pulcherima |
In Stage 1, the horticultural therapy program was set up for the participants to recall childhood (before age 12) and was carried out in Sessions 1 and 2. In Session 1, the participants recalled their parents with carnations, expressed their gratitude for being born, and made floral arrangements with carnations. In Session 2, they recalled the game of marbles by tending a mini garden, and talked about their feelings after completing the dish garden.
In Stage 2, the horticultural therapy program was set up for the participants to recall adolescence (age 12-20) and was carried out in Sessions 3, 4 and 5. In Session 3, the participants made potpourri lucky bags while recalling the dreams they had had in childhood. In Session 4, charcoal was used for them to recall their childhood when they played jwibulnori in the fields on January 15th by lunar calendar to wish for good health, and they planted angraecum using charcoal. In Session 5, they made fans and recalled how they spent scorching summer, and talked about their feelings after finishing the fans made with blow painting techniques and pressed flowers.
In Stage 3, the horticultural therapy program was set up for the participants to recall early adulthood (age 21-34) and was carried out in Sessions 6, 7 and 8. In Session 6, the participants examined how the living environment changed today from the past with tillandsia, which are air plants. Since the elders’ early adulthood was the time when they just got married and were raising children, they were to recall the experience of nurturing children, and they made tapestries with tillandsia, air plants raised without soil. In Session 7, they recalled the people whom they remember the most such as family or friends by making photo frames using flowers. In Session 8, they recalled the times when they got married and started their own family, using fish family stickers and frogbits floating on water. They used frogbits for water culture, and talked about their feelings.
In Stage 4, the horticultural therapy program was set up for the participants to recall adulthood (age 35-65세) and was carried out in Sessions 9, 10 and 11. In Session 9, the participants were to talk while recalling the abundant fruits of autumn harvest, and decorated and made floral arrangements with autumn flowers and fruits in celebration for Chuseok. In Session 10, they recalled the happiest times of their family while making a bird’s nest. In Session 11, they recalled and talked about the most memorable travel sites with terrariums, expressed those places in their works and put up the signs, and then talked about their feelings.
In Stage 5, the horticultural therapy program was set up for the participants to recall maturity (after age 65) and was carried out in Sessions 12, 13 and 14. In Session 12, the participants recalled the people for whom they are grateful and want to wish health in life, like the meaning of Pepero Day in Korea, and made floral arrangements with Pepero and flowers. In Session 13, they recalled the things they regret in life in the past, and made lavender soap. In Session 14, they thought about the people whom they want to thank in time for the end of the year, and resolved the will to live a healthy life. Then they wished for one another’s health, planted poinsettias that represent winter, decorated them with fences, and talked about their feelings.