At Trellis, our vision is that excellent therapeutic horticulture and its benefits are available to all. Our mission - to help people who need it most to improve their health and wellbeing through gardening, plants, and nature connection.
Since 2020, our network of therapeutic gardening projects has grown from 481 to 530. Over that period, we’ve supported over 66,000 people to improve their health and wellbeing through gardening.
When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everyone’s lives in 2020, we swiftly adapted, pivoting away with great trepidation from in-person activity, and launched live online demonstration sessions. These short, accessible events inspired and enabled people to introduce or continue nature connection and gardening activities in their work with clients - and they're still going strong. Since 2020, more than 2,600 participants have enjoyed online gardening activities in care homes, schools, hospitals, and community settings, and all sessions are recorded for ongoing access.
In 2021, as in-person gatherings remained limited, we launched the Trellis International Seminar Series, open to anyone interested in therapeutic horticulture. Over the years, we’ve hosted presentations from practitioners and researchers in Spain, Australia, St Kitts & Nevis, Ukraine, Iceland, Sweden, Austria, Taiwan, and many more. Since then, we’ve welcomed 2,284 registered attendees to share in this global exchange of good practice and seen an additional 2,572 views on YouTube.
That same year, we initiated the therapeutic horticulture Professional Development Forum. Practitioners across the sector have been calling for a professional body dedicated to STH. We established a new organisation called the Association for Social and Therapeutic Horticulture and continue working with Forum members, volunteers, and now Thrive, towards a register of STH practitioners in the UK. We have already created a Code of Ethics and Practice Standards as well as a draft Routes to Registration.
Our step-by-step guide to Year-round Gardening Activities book, published in 2022, includes 52 simple activities, with related extension ideas, to keep practitioners and their groups gardening all year – and many of the activities can be completed on a table-top. The book is available to purchase from our online shop.
In 2023, we inaugurated World Therapeutic Horticulture Day (WTHD) which takes place on the 18th May each year. The day is a worldwide celebration that aims to raise awareness of the practice of therapeutic horticulture, the many benefits it brings to communities around the world, and the amazing people who work in the field. We’re already excited to celebrate again in 2026 - mark your calendar and join us!
Trellis has been working in partnership with colleagues in Ukraine to support the establishment of therapeutic horticulture across the country. This includes lectures for Melitopol Boghdan Kmelnitsky Pedagogic University, National Academy, Zaporyzhe, and inviting Ukrainian presenters to our International Seminar Series. We published an accompanying book, Sowing the Seeds, available in our online shop.
In 2024, we ran training days at HMP Dumfries to help design and build a new wellbeing garden. Prisoners and officers learned new skills and gained confidence, reduced depression and anxiety, and were better able to manage difficult emotions. We helped several participants identify gardening as a possible career option and officer Greg Van Nuill received the Butler Trust award from HRH Princess Anne for his role in the project. The garden was highly praised in a prison inspection and featured in BBC News coverage as a result of its positive impact.
This year, we have been running sessions for children with additional support needs and the staff that support them at a school in East Lothian. These included sessions for children in the school nursery and the upper part of the primary school. Children enjoyed planting flowers in the school grounds, sowing seeds, watering garden areas in the sunshine, and sensory crafts such as making herbal bath bags and pressed flower sun catchers.
In Perth this year, we’ve run sessions at Alzheimer Scotland’s Brain Health & Dementia Resource Centre, Isla Court sheltered housing, and the Salvation Army’s Skinnergate Lifehouse Allotment Group, thanks to support from the Perth & Kinross Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund.
Starting in August 2025, we’ll be working with patients with mild to moderate depression to help them recover, improve their wellbeing, and get involved in shaping a new therapeutic gardening space at a GP practice in Cockenzie, East Lothian. The aim is to enable people to use gardening as an effective and sustainable self-management intervention and wellbeing tool. We’ll share learning from the project and hope it will provide an effective blueprint for rolling out similar programmes across the country.
As 2026 approaches, we’re preparing to celebrate Trellis’s 20th anniversary - a huge milestone in our evolution. We’re also developing a practitioner qualification, a Professional Development Award in Therapeutic Horticulture, currently pending SQA approval, which we hope to launch in the same year.
You can help people improve their wellbeing through the feel-good factor of gardening by supporting Trellis. Your support can help even more people experience the powerful health benefits of gardening and we invite you to be part of the amazing stories we hope to see happening over the next 5 years. There are lots of easy ways to get involved: become a Friend of Trellis - your donation will keep our work going sustainably - sign up as a member, or open your garden in support of this work. Hop onto our Support pages to find out more.
Happy birthday, Scotland Grows and here’s to the next 5!