North Carolina Botanical Garden 
Hybrid Certificate in Therapeutic Horticulture
Class Dates: August 7, 2023 - May 11, 2024
Click here to view the class schedule.
The Hybrid Certificate in Therapeutic Horticulture (HCTH) provides comprehensive online and in-person instruction to professionals and students in allied health, education, and design fields who wish to incorporate therapeutic horticulture into their practice. This nine-month program allows maximum flexibility for those who need convenient, self-paced, evening, and weekend learning opportunities.
Students will build foundational knowledge and explore how Therapeutic Horticulture supports human health & wellness, including physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual, vocational, and social needs.
Students will receive approximately 1-2 hours of recorded lectures each month that cover a wide variety of topics. There is no limit to the number of times students can listen to the lectures, and they can be accessed 24/7 on our online learning platform. On the second Saturday of each month, we will meet as a group at the North Carolina Botanical Garden and discuss the lecture content, participate in hands-on activities that reinforce the online content, network with classmates, instructors, and attend field trips to therapeutic horticulture programs that are local to the Garden.
Instructors for these classes include AHTA registered horticultural therapists, accomplished therapeutic horticulture professionals, allied health professionals, and other accomplished experts in their respective fields.
Students will earn a Certificate of Mastery after viewing all online lectures (approx. 1-2 hrs./month), attending 7 of 8 in-person weekend workshops, and completing a final take-home practicum. The HCTH Program Manager will discuss potential therapeutic horticulture internship options with those who are interested in furthering their experiential knowledge. NCBG's Hybrid Certificate in Therapeutic Horticulture will be a valuable addition to the résumés and experiential knowledge of its students. CEUs are available through the UNC Friday Center.
Course scheduling is designed for completion within a 9-month period. Final practicums are due two months after the last day of the program.
Click here to view the Certificate Handbook.
The recorded content of this hybrid program has been developed in partnership with the NC State Extension Gardener program.
Program Fees:
- Due to the special nature of this program, we are not offering a discount for members of the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Please refer to the payment plan options and scholarship opportunity below for special pricing.
- Early Bird Fee, through June 1, 2023: $1,750
- Regular Fee, through August 1, 2023: $1,850
- Registrations on or after August 1 will incur a $300 late registration fee.
Payment Plans:
- Registrants will have the option to pay in full or in installments. See page 10 of the program handbook for information about payment plan options.
- A deposit will be due at the time of registration. The final payment for all installment plans is due July 31, 2023.
Partial Scholarships:
- Four (4) partial-tuition scholarships are available fore allied-health students or professionals aspiring to bring the healing effects of nature into their current or future practice.
- This scholarship will cover up to 65% of the program fees. Recipients will be required to make a $650 payment in order to participate.
- All applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. on March 31, 2023. Scholarship recipients will be notified by email by the end of the day on April 10, 2023 and will have 72 hours to confirm acceptance. All applicants will be notified whether or not a scholarship is granted once all scholarships have been awarded.
- Enroll in the program using the link below, then apply for the HCTH Partial Scholarship here!
The Hybrid Certificate in Therapeutic Horticulture is designed for:
- Working professionals in allied health fields such as: Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Recreational Therapy, Social Work, Psychology, Rehabilitation Counseling, or other related Allied Health occupations
- Working professionals in allied education fields such as: K-12 education, college educators, teachers of exceptional children, garden coordinators/educators, etc.
- Working professionals in allied design fields such as: Landscape design/architecture, urban planning & development, etc.
- Current students in the above fields
- Graduated students in the above fields not yet working in their fields
No previous horticulture knowledge is required. Please contact Emilee Weaver, Therapeutic Horticulture Program Manager at NCBG, with questions or if your field is different from those outlined above and would like to see if you're eligible for the program.
More information about the program and eligibility may be found on our website.
Register using this link:
This program is offered as a hybrid course. Prerecorded materials will be shared online ahead of a monthly in-person class offered at the North Carolina Botanical Garden's Joslin Classroom.
For directions to the Garden, click here.
Emilee Weaver has been a professional horticulturist for 24 years in five different states/climates in the U.S. Fourteen of those years have been spent as a horticultural therapist and consultant. Stemming from a formalized education in social work, years of in-field horticulture experience, and a horticultural therapy certificate from the Horticultural Therapy Institute of Denver, she has developed and managed numerous HT programs involving a variety of populations and settings. Most notably, she developed a therapeutic/vocational horticultural therapy program at a high-security treatment facility for adolescent girls, a military veteran reintegration program at Denver Botanic Gardens, and managed an HT program at a 400 bed, state-managed psychiatric hospital in North Carolina. She currently serves as the Therapeutic Horticulture Program Manager at the North Carolina Botanical Garden, providing direct services to community organizations and managing the on-site and online TH educational programs offered by the Garden. Emilee has spoken at national conferences and symposiums in efforts to spread the importance of sound program development practices that support the longevity and efficacy of TH/HT programs. She co-authored the HT textbook, “The Profession and Practice of Horticultural Therapy” which was published in 2019. She is enthusiastic about supporting a thriving local and national TH/HT community in the U.S and beyond.
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