Seeing with Other Senses: Gardens for the Blind

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“Gardening is one of my favorite pleasures,” Payne says. “Getting my hands into the earth is healing and experiencing the season’s flow with the succession of blooming herbs brings peace to my world.”

A New Life Grows

For Cindy West, afflicted with a narrowing of vision similar to Payne’s, gardening was a natural outgrowth of her life’s work as a midwife, where she used medicinal herbs, such as shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) to stop bleeding. Diagnosed with tunnel vision as a teenager, six years ago her sight deteriorated to the point that she had to give up driving and her profession.

But that didn’t mean West was going to slow down. After graduating from a Master Gardener course, she entered a new garden-centered life. She likes to garden in a raised bed in the form of a natural soil berm (her boyfriend, Charlie, helps with construction), because it has no hard edges. In her Colorado garden she feels she is in a safe environment, a sanctuary, where she can move slowly.  In her daily life she uses various herbal supplements, such as bilberry for night vision improvement; chamomile, St. John’s wort and valerian for their calming, soothing properties; and astragalus, echinacea and goldenseal as needed to boost her immune system. She grows lavender, clary sage, horehound, motherwort, mullein, self-heal, garlic, chives, thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary and parsley, as well as vegetables and fruits. She also loves to grow flowers. She enjoys the beauty of every bloom every day, preparing for the day when she may not be able to see at all.

West wants her gardens to encompass nature. With Charlie’s help, she creates natural habitats, such as a pond garden to attract wildlife.

Gardens Grow More Than Herbs

In schools and institutions across the country, teachers and devoted volunteers help blind, deaf-blind and hearing-impaired children and adults (who may have other disabilities) develop skills and improve their social, psychological and physical well-being through gardening activities. Horticultural therapy, increasingly valued for its ability to directly reach students, is at the forefront of this effort.

Deborah Krause, horticultural therapist at the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, always knew she wanted to use her horticultural skills and knowledge to help others. She says she is rewarded every time she sees young hands reach out to touch or smell a flower for the first time.

Established in 1829, the Perkins School for the Blind is the oldest school for the blind in the United States and the alma mater of Anne Sullivan and her student, Helen Keller. Horticultural therapy began there in 1979 as a part-time pilot program (students had been involved in gardening and animal husbandry in the past). It quickly became a national model and with the 2003 establishment of its Thomas & Bessie Pappas Horticulture Center, Perkins continues to move forward with innovative plant-oriented programs that include science classes, garden and greenhouse experience, and learning vocational skills, such as making gifts, wreaths, herbal teas and potpourri.

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