Already in existence for over 40 years in the West, horticultural therapy has four major applications: curative, rehabilitative, social, and educational. Curative applications are most often used in medical institutions, rehabilitative most often refers to helping people recover from injury so that they can continue working, social deals with improving quality of life, and educational involves learning about life cycles and nature.
在歐美已發展四十多年的園藝治療，目前主要運用在 4 大領域：以醫療系統為主的「治療型」、以職能復健為目標的「復健型」、以生活品質為目標的「社會型」，和以生命教育或自然教育為目標的「教育型」。