AHS Introduces Youth Sensory Gardening Manual

The American Horticultural Society recently introduced the “AHS Youth Sensory Gardening Manual,” a free, new digital resource detailing how to create gardens to support children’s health. The manual was created by AHS and written by Dr. Amy Wagenfeld, professor at University of Washington and past presenter at the AHS National Children & Youth Garden Symposium. Through an additional collaboration with Kids Cancer Connection, AHS will provide over 200 hospitals throughout the country with the digital manual to support their children’s healthcare initiatives.

Using neuroscience, developmental theory, horticultural therapy, and garden design, this interdisciplinary manual establishes the specific health benefits derived from connecting with nature, followed by details of how the sensory systems enable those benefits. Readers explore each of the eight external and internal sensory systems to learn how people process each sense, sensory processing challenges, and how to support a range of sensory experiences and behaviors. The manual also addresses techniques for universal design and supporting all kinds of inclusion. The appendix includes tools for charting sensory gardening goals and building corresponding plants and materials palettes. Find it here: https://ahsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AHS-Youth-Sensory-Gardening-Manual.pdf.