November 2024 Oakville Hort Society Meeting

Please join us for our guest speaker Guinevere Kern! Doors open at 6:30pm, meeting begins at 7:30 pm at Knox Presbyterian Church, 89 Dunn St., Oakville. (Parking on Robinson.)

Topic: “To Make Whole: An Exploration of Health, Healing Gardens, and Horticultural Therapy”

Healing gardens, carefully crafted indoor and outdoor sanctuaries, harness the power of nature to alleviate stress, enhance recovery, and promote overall physical and mental health. Complementing this, horticultural therapy involves engaging individuals in purposeful plant-related activities, fostering improved motor skills, cognitive function, and emotional well-being. Join us as we navigate through the therapeutic benefits of these practices, examining real-world examples.

Guinevere Kern is a passionate advocate, educator, and practitioner who strives to encourage curiosity, find nourishment, and build hope through the transformative power of horticulture.

Her current roles include working at Homewood Health Center in the Horticultural Therapy Department, teaching with Landscape Ontario’s GROW training program as a Horticulture Technical Instructor, and advocating for the professional development of Horticultural Therapy as a viable therapeutic modality.

Her horticulture background includes the University of Guelph in the Department of Plant Agriculture in native wildflower and ornamental plant research, nursery, landscape, and greenhouse work in Canada, and organic agriculture in the United States.

She is an active member of the Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association (CHTA), American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA), and sits on the CHTA Education Committee. Guinevere brings a transdisciplinary approach to health and wellness that invites us to cultivate the precious interconnected relationship between plants, the broader environment, ourselves and one another.