This was an interesting book, and I enjoyed the stories and gardening advice it contained. It was broken down by months, and I liked seeing how the garden changed and evolved with each season. It didn't flow very smoothly, but the descriptions are vivid enough that you can see each scene unfold before you. Overall, an interesting read that is part memoir of sorts and part gardening advice.

This was an entertaining read but I suspect it will be of more interest to people working with vulnerable people rather than to keen gardeners which is the category that I come into. It was interesting to read about the very different gardening conditions in CT, USA from those that I experience in my Scottish garden though.

Loved it! The Author kindly sent me a hard copy which I appreciated. Garden therapy. This book was just what i needed to revitalize my spirit after a long Winter in Florida!
Erik Keller is a Horticultural Therapist who shares a 100 stories of how interacting with plants and nature can heal mental, emotional and physical trauma. I particularly enjoyed the Art of Zen-mixing mud with seniors.
The Author splits the chapters by month and offers pratical wisdom and a seasonal craft and a nature outing to enjoy. "January Craft: grow Some Sprouts."
This book was a reminder to me, as the Author states, that we are all horticultural therapists when we bring freshly cut flowers to a loved one in the hospital. "There is happiness and peace in these simple acts."
But beyond the plethora of horticulture therapy principles, there is a wealth of knowledge about plants, gardening, including an index of plant names.
I have this book on my coffee table next to a plant of course, and each month I look forward to reading the current month's chapter on nature therapy.
Many thanks to the Author, Erik Keller, NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for the opportunity to read and review this memorable book.

This was a sweet book overall. I enjoyed the structure of the book and the crafts and outings for each month. The tangents of the storylines though did make this book hard to read at times. Overall though, I felt this was a book that made me rethink my own relationship with gardening and the outdoors.

This book has a great, original topic - after reading a few articles about the mental health benefits of forest baths and gardening, having dreams of gardens and feeling better after walks in nature, I picked it up with high hopes.
The author is a therapist-gardener, helping people feel better through gardening.
I did like the seasonal aspect of the book, each chapter a month of the year, with quite a lot of gardening tips. I liked all the anecdotes that felt personal to him. I was moved by how he helped his late mother develop her garden over the years, and the obvious love he has for his wife and his granddaughter, that I'll remember as a crop destroyer :) The author seemed humble, and caring for his patients and loved ones.
That said, I found the writing itself awkward at time, and some patterns repetitive. The Latin names of plants could have been dumped in a glossary at the end, but in the book the author would mention them in parenthesis after every new plant and it broke the narration. I also wished we could have connected more deeply with some clients and followed their mental health evolution. Instead, we meet new people every chapter, and it becomes difficult to understand some long lasting therapeutic benefits of gardening, or to care about anonymous new characters. Now, regarding my ethics vs the author: I was disappointed by the casual killing approach to so-called "pests" (especially when I read that compassionate solutions exist to prevent slugs from eating all your produce, like copper bands) and how "disgusting" they seem to everyone without it being questioned, apart from the rat at the beginning.
Overall, it was an interesting read, and feels like a work of love from the author.
I want to thank Erik Keller, Black Rose Writing publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

A different take on gardens. When a therapist gets to write about gardens, gardening, and what happens there and when, this book is what happens. It is an interesting read which makes you think about gardens from maybe a bit different perspective. The book goes through every month of the year and what is going on just then. I recommend this book to people with green thumbs or at least one green finger, who gets energy from green gardens.

I was very excited for the premise of the book - as a therapist with a love for plants! I enjoyed the month by month structure of the book, including the ways different seasons of the natural world can be used for healing in both practical ways (scent bundle activities) or metaphorical ways. However, I struggled with the writing style, as I tend to enjoy more flourished and winding sentences. I was also hopeful it would be more case study based where we might get to know certain patients in depth, which again is more of a personal preference for the style of the book rather than anything I felt like the author did poorly, more than we ever get. The author is brilliantly informed on the natural world and it was a mental health/plant lovers mix unlike anything I've picked up before!