Growing with Gardening: A Twelve-month Guide for Therapy, Recreation, and Education

Part  I

Program Planning and Development

1 Introduction to Horticultural Therapy

How Plants Help Us

What Is Horticultural Therapy?

The power of gardening to heal and help us grow has been recognized since the beginning of civilization. Used therapeutically, nature and gardening have helped restore people to health through both the restful and quiet viewing of lovely gardens and the sunlight, fresh air, and moderate exercise offered by outdoor gardens.

Horticultural therapy works through the ability of plants to interest us and hold our attention. This focused attention on plants allows for a pleasant concentration that takes us away from other concerns. As our curiosity leads us on, we experience pleasant sensations of smell, sight, touch, taste, and often sound.

Plants are beautiful, responsive to care, and productive. In turn, the person who takes care of the plants, the gardener, can come to perceive the self as a successful, nurturing, productive, and creative person with gifts to share. People, whether healthy or ill, need to be involved in activities that focus on their strengths. It is the simplicity of gardening that promotes a can do attitude.

Horticulture, as used in horticultural therapy, includes working with all kinds of plants. A horticultural therapy program includes outdoor gardening, landscaping, indoor gardening, flower arranging, crafts—just about anything related to plants that is of interest to the participant. In a hospital or institutional setting using horticultural therapy, the treatment goals are set by the staff, and a professionally trained horticultural therapist assists the client by providing supportive horticultural activities that aid in meeting these goals.

How Plants Help Us

Caring for a few house plants in the home or office can give us a brief moment of rest from an otherwise stress-filled day. Have you ever caught yourself looking up from your work and absent-mindedly gazing at a plant for a few minutes or stopping by a window to watch the trees and sky outside? Have you ever been raking leaves and found yourself happily hypnotized by the repeated motion of pulling the leaves into piles? Working with plants can have a calming and soothing effect:

—Plants soften the man-made environment.

—Plants have a natural, predictable cycle that is comforting in our time of rapid and constant change.

—Plants are stimulating as they change through growth and blossoming.

—Plants are responsive yet safe. A plant will not talk back or bite, yet it will respond to the care you give it.

—Plants do not make judgments. They are not interested in who you are, what you are, or what you have done.

—Plants allow us to change our environment. Sometimes we feel that we have lost control of what is happening in our world. By using plants, we can dramatically change our world.

—Plant-saturated environments—greenhouses and the outdoors—seem to be relaxing. A study at Kansas State University showed that people in a greenhouse workshop, versus a more traditional rehab workshop, were more relaxed. Another study at the University of Delaware showed that just viewing scenes of vegetation could significantly improve emotional states.

In chapter 16, I have listed some of the ways in which working with plants can help us to grow, physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and financially. There are probably other benefits that we do not yet know. (See chapter 16 for Benefits of Working with Plants)

How Horticulture Can Be Used for Community Integration

Many social service and health care facilities look institutional and are boring places to visit or live. Residents often feel no sense of ownership in the place. Neighbors resist residential programs because of fears for personal safety and fear of decline in property values.

By demonstrating care of the home through landscaping and gardening, residents develop a sense of ownership and earn the interest and respect of neighbors. In many communities, much neighbor-to-neighbor interaction occurs over yard work. However, many group home residents do not have these skills or do not feel motivated or encouraged to acquire them. Furthermore, staff often lack the skill and knowledge to adapt gardening practices to the abilities of residents.

Horticultural programming provides needed recreational opportunities for residents. Today there is agreement that residential programs need to go beyond providing physical/medical care and include opportunities to learn new skills and explore recreational options. Thus, horticulture can be used to invite positive community attention while providing the students with a recreational interest that increases their sense of contribution to their home.

Developing a Garden Program

The next three sections deal with setting up a program, determining students’ goals, finding a teacher, and getting together supplies. If you already have a program started, go on to Part II of the manual for ideas for a year-round program.

Qualities of a Successful Horticultural Program

1. Gardening opportunities must be readily available to motivate the student to learn for himself. Too many obstacles discourage learning and encourage passivity. Once the classes are over, your success can be measured by whether the student has learned enough to continue any of the activities independently.

2. Make plant materials (seeds, pots, soils, water, and fertilizing equipment) readily available to anyone who wants to use them. (See Horticultural Program Supplies: Budget and Storage below.) While some discretion will be necessary, have a number of supplies freely available or available at regularly scheduled times, such as every Saturday morning. Some facilities keep all supplies under lock and key, with the result that freedom to initiate activities is limited. When supplies can be kept neatly, within reach, and clearly labeled, participants will be encouraged to work on their own. Strive to achieve some level of independence in a portion of the gardening program.

3. Provide opportunities for the students to develop and use their new horticultural skills. This means providing instruction in what to do and then providing support to implement independent ideas.

In the beginning you will need to decide whether to have a set time for teaching or a gardening project that is run more informally. If your garden project depends on administrative support and you need to document the success of your project, then having regular classes, keeping notes on students’ progress, covering specific information, and producing certain plants makes your program more accountable.

If you have a class on forcing bulbs, for example, make sure gravel, containers, and the knowledge of how and where to get bulbs are also available so the student can pursue this independently. This might include reminders and pictures of the steps to follow at the correct time of year. You will have this manual to guide you month by month. For the students who do not read, you might make a picture book of things to do month by month. Review possible activities with the students at the beginning of each month.

4. Provide opportunities for the students to teach and share their new skills with others. To really master a subject, we need to teach it to someone else.

5. Support and encouragement from other staff, visitors, and administration is necessary to keep motivation high for both the teacher and the students. Initiate some activities early in the program that produce a product that can be shared with others. The recipients will share their own enthusiasm and encouragement with you. For example, you could buy or start plants from cuttings. Within three weeks these could be potted in four-inch pots and given as gifts.

6. Provide information about the living plants in the immediate environment. Your best nature teachers will be those plants that you can observe through seasonal changes. They include trees, shrubs, and plants within a one-to-two-block radius around where your program takes place. Invite someone to teach you and your students about these plants. Write down their names, age of plants (guess), when they flower, when they produce seeds or fruit, when they shed their leaves, and when to prune. Mark these on your yearly calendar as things to observe.

7. Schedule the time to practice what you learn. Set aside a regular time to learn more about the subject of horticulture, or you will find yourself repeating things, getting bored, and being boring. If you are growing plants, you will need to meet at least twice a week for maintenance of the plants. Growing seedlings will require daily attention of five to ten minutes to take care of light and water needs.

—Preparation time: Allow an hour and a half a week to plan, buy supplies, and look up resources.

—Teaching time: Allow an hour and a half a week for a class and clean-up.

—Maintenance time: Allow an hour-a-week total for plant maintenance.

Remember that these four hours meet many programming needs and are not just another activity.

8. Make every attempt to design your outdoor area to be barrier free. Ask students how often they go outdoors and what helps them do this or keeps them from doing this. Think about providing

—Shady areas for work/rest

—Paved areas for sure-footing for those with walking aides or wheelchairs

—Doors and gates that can be easily opened

—Places to sit

—Easily accessed watering hose/spigot.

9. Design the garden to be easily and comfortably worked by the users. Consider using raised beds (see March activities in chapter 5) or wheelchair-high gardens (see April activities in chapter 6) to raise the soil level if necessary. Some people will want garden beds to be raised two feet above the ground, with a sitting ledge, so that the garden can be worked from a seated position. This plan can be attractively worked into existing home or building standards and requires very little maintenance.

Outline of Steps to Take in Starting a Gardening Program

As you develop your program, you will have many decisions to make as to the size of the program and how long it should last. Keep in mind that the most important step in implementing the program is when you sit down with the students to discuss their needs and goals, whether for therapy, recreation, or personal growth on any level. Keep the students’ needs foremost in your mind and you will have a successful program.

• Decide on what your goal will be for this year or the next six-month period, and talk your ideas over with the students and the other staff members. Read this manual and maybe a few other books on gardening. Discuss your ideas with your boss. (See chapter 16 for Benefits of Working with Plants.)

• Find out about available resources. Make a list of possible sources for funding and support. These would include your agency, gardening and agriculture organizations, extension agents, community agencies, local businesses, private foundations, government agencies, and the media. Let these people know what you want to do and what you need. As you get assistance, keep your supporters informed and updated. (See chapter 16 for Horticultural Program Budgets.)

• Learn the interests of the students. There are two horticultural interest lists in chapter 16 that can be copied and given to the students to determine their interests.

• Review the list Benefits of Working with Plants in chapter 16. Put these ideas in your own words as you talk to the students about their personal goals: learning new skills, improving self-expression, having things to give to others, physical exercise. Once you are clear about the goals for the students, you can choose horticultural activities that help meet those goals. (See the Student Goal Plan in chapter 16.)

• Write down with the students the horticultural activities that will help them meet their personal goals. Remember, this is a very important step. (See chapter 15 for Over-view of a Year-Round Horticultural Program, for possible activities.) Come to an agreement on trying these activities as a way to reach the agreed-upon goals. Agree on a review date and make changes as needed at that time.

• Choose the garden projects you will work on first. Once you know student interests, look for common interests and set priorities. Priorities will be shaped by program goals, student goals and interests, facilities and time available, funding acquired, and the season of the year.

• Make a list of supplies necessary for the projects chosen. Read through the monthly special projects and Horticutural Program Supplies: Budget and Storage, below

• Set up a schedule for yourself. This could be a simple list of four topics you would like to explore or a detailed class outline. (See chapter 16 for Class Outline.)

• Order or make teaching aids. (See chapter 16 for Teaching Aids and Adapted Tools.)

• As you begin classes, record your observations. Keep a record of how this activity benefits you and the students; the students’ comments, enthusiasm, and discouragement; the comments of other staff members, family, or visitors. These will be useful in sustaining your motivation and in requesting continued support from others. This can be as simple as writing a few phrases on a calendar each week.

• Plan for the use of what you grow. As plants grow, they need to be shared, cut back, started over, or thrown away. Decide now what you will do with the harvest. Who in the community would enjoy excess fresh produce and flowers? Could you even market them?

• Select the teacher. Will it be you or a horticultural therapy consultant, a recreational therapist, a horticulture teacher, or a series of volunteers?

• Plan for and buy the supplies for each class.

• Assign activities for maintaining the plants.

• Plan special events to get recognition for your accomplishments and to celebrate your successes in such a way that everyone notices.

• Involve the media in covering the development of your program.

• Coordinate volunteer help. Present your project, ask for help, outine clearly the help you need, and follow up with recognition and thank-yous for the help you get. (See Getting Help: Working with Volunteers below.)

A Staff Member as the Horticulture Teacher

Many agencies already have a professionally trained person whose responsibility is to promote and encourage appropriate recreational opportunities for the clients. Other professionals who might have interest or training in horticultural therapy include horticultural therapists, rehab therapists, recreational therapists, occupational therapists, and horticulturists.

The horticulture teacher’s role will be to develop and teach a full range of gardening skills over a specified period of time (three to twelve months), allowing staff and students to learn a lot in a short period, to order garden supplies, and to design and set up indoor and outdoor growing spaces.

You will probably qualify as the horticulture teacher if you can answer yes to most of these questions:

—Do you have an interest in or love of plants?

—Have you had any past experiences in gardening or raising houseplants?

—Do you enjoy doing things with your hands?

—Do you enjoy being outdoors?

—Do you enjoy moderate amounts of exercise?

—Do you have a desire to see your environment become greener or more beautiful?

—Do you like learning new things?

—Do you enjoy teaching others?

—Are you able or willing to give this project a priority status for a short time (three to twelve months)?

—Are you able to get the planning and organizational time as needed?

—Do you want to do it?

Hiring a Consultant to Assist in Program Development

Sometimes it makes more sense to hire someone from outside to plan and maintain a program.

For example, in a residential program with frequent shifts in staff, it will be less confusing to have a horticulture instructor from the outside, unless there is already a recreational program staff. Or if the agency is in a process of change or start-up, an outside teacher can take on the responsibility of introducing the program to be taken over by the agency staff when they are under less pressure.

Finally, if the institution has no landscaping or if it is just moving into a new building, it is advisable to retain a consultant to provide a long-range development plan. This should be a consultant with skills in therapeutic program development, horticulture, and landscaping; otherwise, you may get a nice-looking plan but miss an important opportunity to provide needed recreational and educational opportunities for your clients.

The consultant will prepare a site analysis, look at the strengths and weaknesses of the grounds in terms of program development, and will help you determine the best use of the land in meeting your program goals. The long-range plan should include stages of development over a several-year period and should include what should be done during each planting season. In this way, you can start small and develop additional areas as needed.

A consultant is invaluable if the horticultural program is to serve more than one household or agency program. Budget items can be shared and supplies purchased in bulk at a significant savings both in cost and time for purchase. A consultant would also be useful in training the staffs of several programs. In this case, the consultant could be hired to provide special training workshops for the combined staffs.

The advantages of hiring a teacher/consultant:

• Fewer demands on staff time

• Less trial and error

• More immediate program development

• More immediate success and gratification

The disadvantages include:

• The delay in staff/resident ownership of program and plants

• Greater expense

• Loss of opportunity to do things more gradually

• Dependence on someone else’s knowledge

If at all possible, find a staff person to become the horticulture instructor. The one advantage that outweighs all other considerations is that the staff peson will be there on a regular basis and will be more invested in the continuity of the program. If needed, use a consultant to set up the program, provide needed information, and provide staff training.

Where to Look for a Teacher or Consultant

—Educational centers, high schools, universities, and botanical gardens often have persons trained in horticultural therapy or health care programs such as recreational therapy rehab therapy, and occupational therapy.

—The American Horticultural Therapy Association may be able to provide names of certified horticultural therapists living in your area. Ask one of them to teach the horticulture classes or to provide a training workshop for staff from a number of interested agencies. These individuals are trained to develop horticultural programs adapted to the needs of the client.

—The county agricultural extension agent may know of a program that trains community gardeners (master gardeners) who then owe the extension service so many hours of volunteer time. One of them might be interested in teaching the class.

—Continuing education departments at community colleges often will provide a horticulture instructor for programs in nursing homes, senior citizen centers, and prisons.

—Local nurseries or greenhouses sometimes have employees who are willing to teach horticulture as a recreational or educational program.

—Local hospitals, clinics, and rehab units might have rehab therapists or recreational therapists who are familiar with the use of horticulture as a recreational or therapeutic program.

Horticultural Program Supplies: Budget and Storage

Sample Program Budgets

Determining your program costs will help you decide how to raise money for your program. Horticultural programs under $1,000 can usually be funded through contributions from community agencies, clubs, and local businesses. For over $1,000, the best course is probably to write a grant proposal for program development to be funded by private foundations or governmental agencies.

The budgets included here are for a small program serving five to eight students in a residential setting or agency with costs ranging from $100 to $500.

Most small programs need a minimum continuation budget of $100 per year for supplies ($8.50 per month). Some of this money can be earned through sales of bedding plants, houseplants, cut-flower bouquets, and dried flower crafts. Most programs can sustain themselves financially once they are established.

See chapter 17 for Fund Raising and Examples of Horticultural Therapy under Library Resources and Horticultural Therapy Programs for places to contact if you are interested in developing a horticultural program on a larger scale; for example, starting a vocational training program involving greenhouses, a nursery, grounds-maintenance services, interior plantscape services, or retail store.

The following budgets are a guide for what you can develop with $100, $300, and $500. A detailed budget is provided in Horticultural Program Budgets in chapter 16.

• The $100 budget allows you to develop a summer horticultural program working primarily outside with a vegetable and flower garden. A few houseplants are included to beautify the home and to stimulate students’ interest in learning more about plants. This budget will allow you

—To establish a vegetable or flower garden by borrowing a rototiller and handtools to establish the beds. You would also need to borrow a truck to get soil and leaves to enrich the soil. Start vegetables from seeds. (Free seeds are available from America the Beautiful; see chapter 16 for Free Seeds under Mail-Order Sources.)

—To start houseplants from cuttings.

—To make hanging baskets that could then provide cuttings for future projects. (These are your stock baskets.)

—To provide insect control of houseplants.

• The $300 budget allows you to buy an indoor grow-light, which provides year-round activities, including propagation of vegetable and flower transplants and propagation of houseplants.

As well as the above items, the additional $200 allows you the following:

—A grow-light, with stand and timer, providing more reliable growth for starting cuttings, growing seedlings, and experimenting with different house plants

—A good reference book for basic gardening and house-plant care

—Special fertilizer to promote flowering in houseplants

—A small herb garden

—Spring bulbs in the flower bed

—A frame for a raised vegatable bed

—A greater variety of flowers and vegetables to grow from seed

—A trellis to extend your growing space

—Hand tools, such as soil cultivators and pruners

• The $500 budget provides supplies for a winter crafts program in which the plant material you have raised is used and adds the convenience of more garden tools. In addition to the above, the $200 supplement can be put into supplies for specific craft projects that are suitable and interesting to your students.

—Make cactus/succulent dish gardens or make low-light dish gardens as gifts or for sales.

—Make and sell terrariums. (See February, chapter 4, special projects for Make a Terrarium.)

—Make individual plant presses that allow the students to collect and dry materials for making gifts: note cards, birthday and Christmas cards, placemats, book marks. (See May, chapter 7, special projects for Making a Plant Press.)

—Experiment with dried herb crafts: sachets, potpourris, dream pillows.

—Work with glycerin-preserved plant materials for arrangements.

—Make pine-cone wreaths and candle holders from materials collected on walks, field trips, and vacations.

—Purchase tools to make your garden work easier.

—Build a raised-bed planter for the patio area, allowing more comfort and ease in working from a seated level.

Additional funds can be used to buy more convenient containers for propagation, to replenish consumable supplies, and to build a good resource library.

Storage for Horticultural Supplies

In starting a horticultural program, you will be acquiring plant and garden tools. Storage areas are often limited, both in homes and in institutions, so organization becomes even more critical. The following suggestions are made to help you plan for safety as well as for accessibility of gardening equipment.

1. Keep equipment organized and neatly stacked.

2. Have everything clearly marked with either a large word printed on the container or a picture. (See chapter 16 for Teaching Aids.)

3. Keep things clean! Wash out pots that have been used. Ones that have contained infected plants must be washed and then dipped in a solution of one cup of clorox to one gallon of water and then rinsed. Lay containers out on newspaper to dry.

4. Keep equipment used regularly within easy reach of all students:

—Potting soil

—Tray to hold soil

—Watering tray and watering can(s)

—Cell packs, pots, and containers

—Clippers or knife (could be plastic) to take cuttings

—Rootone for starting cuttings

—Fertilizer and measuring spoon

—Plastic jug for mixing fertilizer

—Pen and labels

—Safers soap (an insecticide spray)

—Spray bottle for mixing and applying the soap

Where chemicals need to be carefully monitored, the fertilizer, Rootone, and Safers soap can be stored elsewhere. A small amount can be left out but premixed in the spray bottle or in the watering can, and these should be used only at agreed times and with supervision.

5. Help students plan and become familiar with the storage system. They then can act more independently and show initiative when it comes to setting up/cleaning up for a class.

6. Plan for an outdoor storage area. A storage-shed wall can hold most of the tools required for working a small garden area:

—Bulb planter

—Cultivator

—Fan nozzle

—Flat-edged shovel

—Garden hose

—Spring rake

—Hand trowels

—Hoe

—Iron rake

—Shovel

—Spading fork

—Wand extender

7. Make water easily available. Plan at the very beginning to make watering as uncomplicated as possible but still comply with house or agency rules. Here are a few suggestions.

—Buy a hose reel. Get a good quality, free-standing reel that can be rolled around or one that attaches to the wall. Make sure each student has a chance to practice reeling in the hose.

—If you buy a hose holder to attach to the wall, place it up about four to five feet high. It will take fewer loops to put the hose away.

—Buy several hoses. Leave one at each spigot, allowing enough length to reach the areas that need watering. Look for hoses that flatten out when the water is turned off. These drain by themselves and are lighter to carry.

—Have nozzles to fit each hose. Use a fan nozzle for watering seedlings and a soaker nozzle for established plants.

8. Keep soil readily available for repotting and propagation. Unless you have storage space for separate ingredients, use premixed soil. It is easy to fit a bag of Pro-Mix or Jiffy Mix into a thirty-gallon, rubberized trash can. This can be stored in a pantry area or closet. It is good to have a place outdoors to keep a small amount of soil (several wheelbarrows full) if you want to have a compost pile. (See October, chapter 12, special projects for Making Compost.)

Getting Help: Working with Volunteers

Benefits of Volunteer Support

Volunteers can be an important asset to your program. The only cost of volunteer help is your time in organizing, planning, communicating your needs, and expressing your appreciation. Volunteers want a clear understanding of what is expected of them, what they are to do, and when and where they are to do it. They also want to know that they have been useful and are appreciated.

The benefits to you and your organization are many.

• Help in carrying out specific tasks—assistance in plowing up a garden area, planting trees, putting in landscaping material, and building small projects.

• Shared enthusiasm for the project. If you have committed volunteers, they can be an important source of support during both good and bad times.

• Good ideas and innovative approaches. Deciding what needs to be done is your job; choosing how to do it depends on the ideas and the resources at hand.

• Contact with others in the community. Volunteer support helps build good relationships with the public through a better understanding of the needs of those differently abled.

• Access to other community groups. By involving others in your program, you will also have access to other community groups. A volunteer or his/her spouse who is a board member of another community group may be willing to help once they know about your program.

• Public recognition. Volunteers may be willing to write an article for the newspaper on some aspect of your program: how your program was started, volunteers who are involved in helping, community beautification projects you might undertake. Volunteer activities might also include:

—Designing the program

—Developing a planting schedule

—Donating building materials

—Recycling materials for use

—Donating plants

—Donating soil

—Participating in construction

—Teaching a specialty class

—Fund raising

—Helping with public relations

—Training staff members

Where to Look for Volunteers

The following list includes possible sources of volunteers. Spot those you know who have an interest in you, your agency, the clients you serve, or an interest in community service.

Agricultural extension agents

Associations for special groups: mental health, mental retardation, drug/alcohol abuse

Botanical gardens

Building contractors

Civitan clubs

Church groups

4-H Clubs/The Grange

Friends

Garden centers

Garden clubs

Grading contractors

Greenhouses

Greenhouse Growers Association

High school horticulture/botany classes

Jaycees

Nature centers

Nurseries

Nurserymen’s Association

Plant clubs: Rose Society, Day Lily Society

Ruritan clubs

Scouts

Technical colleges: horticulture programs

University departments: landscape architecture, horticulture, design schools

Advisory Boards

If you are developing a horticultural program for a large institution or agency or for a number of group homes, consider setting up a community advisory board. If the agency already has an advisory board, find out who on the board might have an interest in the horticultural program and meet with them personally.

Community Projects Attract Volunteers

While the advisory board can help build a better community image and help in the planning process, another way to locate possible volunteers is through community projects.

—Have a booth at a local fair or street fair for selling plants, flowers, or craft items, or for serving herbal teas and cookies.

—Donate plants to a community beautification project.

—Donate time to maintaining a small community landscaped area in a public garden, park, or business district.

—Offer to provide flowers for a banquet or some function of the local school board or other community board.

Sample Letter Requesting Volunteer Support

Enlisting volunteer help requires planning and coordination. Your request to a community group will most likely first be presented at a group meeting for consideration and approval. Most groups have monthly or bimonthly meetings, so plan four to six months ahead. For a sample letter, see chapter 16 for Requesting Volunteer Support. It presents the basics of how, when, where, what, and why you are asking for help.

A Guide for Volunteers

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1. Allow a first visit with the students to be a time for getting acquainted with the students and facilities. Share with the group your interest in working with them, and allow them time to talk about their interests in working with plants. This provides an opportunity for observing what help is most needed.

2. Come to each class or session with a positive greeting. Start the class by reviewing last week’s topic, note any changes in plant material, or comment on project success since the last meeting. Allow time for questions.

3. Be alert for fatigue. Keep outdoor classes limited to about one and a half hours and to sixty minutes indoors.

4. Never make a promise or an offer to a student unless you are positive you can fulfill that obligation.

5. Focus on each student as equally as possible, considering the physical and mental condition and needs of each individual.

6. Discuss beforehand whether you will be calling the students by their first or last names.

7. Compliment a student’s efforts, then assist him/her in doing a better job. Be simple in describing what was done well or how it was done. Complimenting in an overly flattering manner is false and unneeded.

8. Remember that the student will learn best the work that is done unassisted. Model what needs to be done, then allow the student to do as much as possible. When assisting, rather than taking over and finishing the task, do only what is needed, then stop and allow the student to continue. Again, modeling is more effective than doing for.

9. Provide as many opportunities as possible for individuals to make their own decisions. Provide guidelines when necessary to insure success, and then allow for individual interpretation.

10. At the end of the class, review the important things learned that session and talk about the next weeks’ activities. Review the responsibilities to be covered during the week and write down who will take care of what. This notation should be posted on the bulletin board and checked at the beginning of the next class.

11. Give the group a warning five to ten minutes before the class is over so that they can complete their projects. Allow ten minutes for everyone to assist in cleanup and putting away the supplies.

Continuing the Relationships with Volunteers

What keeps volunteers coming back for more?

—Good communication and a positive outlook! Write or call your volunteers and let them know how their contributions have helped and how successful the program has been. If you are enthusiastic and committed to your program, your volunteers will reflect your enthusiasm.

—Once you have gone through a complete program year, you will know what changes need to be made. At that time, review your volunteer resource list and make your goals and needs known. (See Part IV, Forms to Copy, for Volunteer List.)

—Always do your best to be specific about what kind of services or support you need.

—Be willing to look for new volunteers as your needs change.

—Match donations rather than depending on a single source for your support.

—Plan to share your successes with every donor through letters, photographs, or a brief slide show or talk presented at a club or board meeting.

—Allow the volunteers to bring a part of themselves into the program so that they can feel a part of the whole process.

Enthusiasm Carries the Program

Motivation Varies during the Project

Be prepared for the cycles of highs and lows that will come with being the motivator for a gardening project— either for yourself or for others. Here are a few observations on the process:

• New ideas bring novelty into your program and inspire you to get the project organized. Other people, in turn, are inspired by your commitment and ideas and will work to support you. The students are quick to pick up your enthusiasm as well.

• Looking for money is a time of highs and lows—highs as you gather together the possibilities of grants and donors, lows as you begin the process of stating what you really want to do. In the planning stage, the initial enthusiasm gets grounded. If you have shared your dream with enough people, they will give you encouragement through this phase.

• You get the money (you will), and that is a high. Everyone is excited about getting started.

• When shopping for the equipment, it can take time to find exactly what you want. If you are a first-time gardener, you may be impatient with how long it takes to learn where to order the various supplies. Visiting a few nurseries can be helpful. Talk to managers and get help looking through the catalogs and looking at the equipment they use.

• Starting the classes is exciting. You are finally doing something with plants: rooting, transplanting, starting seeds.

• Deciding on outdoor areas to be developed is also exciting.

• As you schedule the classes and the building projects, you wonder where you will find time to do everything