Finding calm in the garden, Florida college students grow resilience — one plant at a time
Inside a greenhouse tucked between the University of Florida’s medical and research buildings, students gather each week to dig their hands into soil and take a few deep breaths. Surrounded by plants and sunlight, they find a rare chance to slow down and step away from the pressures of campus life. For many, these 90 minutes surrounded by greenery have become a lifeline — a space to reset, connect and heal.
That space is part of the Therapeutic Horticulture Program at UF’s Wilmot Botanical Gardens, led since 2012 by director Leah Diehl, a UF/IFAS environmental horticulture faculty member. What began as an experiment in blending wellness and gardening has become a proven way to ease anxiety and strengthen academic resilience.
“We had been offering therapeutic horticulture programming to a lot of other populations — some patient groups, some community groups with special needs — and I just thought, ‘Gosh, we’ve got this entire campus here of students,’” Diehl said. “COVID had happened, or was happening, and I was starting to read more about the dramatically rising levels of stress, anxiety and depression in students. We had a method here that we know works for other groups, so let’s give it a try.”
Unplugging and unwinding
A recent study led by Diehl, published in Frontiers in Psychology in October, found that tending plants and practicing mindfulness can meaningfully reduce stress while helping students develop lasting coping skills.
To this end, UF’s semester-long program brings four groups of 12 to 20 students together once a week for 90-minute sessions in the greenhouse and gardens. Students begin each class working in pairs to cultivate “biodomes,” small tabletop greenhouses where they learn to propagate and transplant plants they later take home.
A psychologist from the UF Counseling and Wellness Center then leads a wellness exercise in mindfulness, loving-kindness meditation or relaxation skills for managing anxiety. Each session concludes with a creative, plant-based project — from building terrariums to crafting bouquets — that reinforces the week’s wellness theme.
Diehl describes the program as a partnership rather than a substitute for counseling.
“I don’t mean it as a replacement, but I think of it as a complement,” Diehl said. “A well-done, successful therapeutic horticulture program could help to take some of the burden off the counseling and wellness centers — not for people that are in acute need, but for those students that are struggling and not yet in acute need.”
An ideal setting
Set amid five acres of greenery, Wilmot Botanical Gardens plays an important role in shaping the student experience.
“This is a beautiful garden, and we purposely design some of our activities so that the students have to go out and do things in the garden,” Diehl said. “We’re all busy and feel like we don’t have enough time to take a break, but when we make them do that as part of the activity, I think they start to recognize that just time outdoors in a green space can be really helpful in terms of calming, grounding and stress relief.”
Survey data from multiple semesters showed significant reductions in stress and anxiety, and increases in both general and academic resilience. Student feedback echoed those results.
One participant wrote, “It really helped me adjust to college, and I learned many skills that I will carry throughout my life. I got to spend time each week doing something that I enjoy without any pressure like I felt with many other aspects of a student’s life.”
A doctoral student shared, “You absolutely must keep this program going. I cannot overstate how much the program has helped me and prevented me from having mental breakdowns while working on my dissertation. This program is invaluable for students.”
Another participant shared that, since joining the group, their sleeping habits had improved, their anxiety had lessened and their overall activity had increased.
Diehl believes the success comes from combining peer connection, hands-on learning and time in nature.
“We’re trying to help students understand that a relationship with nature — whether it’s through gardening or walking — is good for their physical health and their psychological health,” Diehl said. “The less stressed we are, the less anxious we are, the better we are. That’s going to reflect in our academic resilience and our ability to focus on class.”
UF students interested in participating in the program can visit the Therapeutic Horticulture Program page and complete the online inquiry form. A limited number of spots are available each semester and participants are accepted on a rolling basis.