Libba Shortridge is a professionally registered horticultural therapist in Atlanta, GA. She recently retired from practice at Skyland Trail, a mental health facility for adults and adolescents where she wove together her fascination with the natural
world and her awe of human nature for 15 rewarding years. She graduated from the Horticultural Therapy Institute in 2009, and in 2017 was awarded the Rhea McCandliss Professional Service Award by the American Horticultural Therapy Association for her innovative programmatic development at Skyland Trail.
Libba did not set out to be a horticultural therapist. After receiving her master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia in 1987, she practiced for 21 years in the Atlanta area. It was her signature style of collaborative work and empowering others that ultimately led her to discover the field of horticultural therapy.
A well rooted, sixth generation Atlantan, Libba attributes her parents and her up bringing for the momentum which propelled her into a lifelong embrace of nature, with positivity and ingenuity. She has received many awards, including Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, but the greatest award of all
was the Humanitarian Award at Skyland Trail, whose recipient is chosen by the clients and colleagues.
Libba is currently busy addressing the need for horticultural therapy programming for dementia care in the Atlanta area, including the design of a ground-breaking rooftop garden project at Canterbury Court in collaboration with Dr. John Zeisel, founder at I’m Still Here & the Hearthstone Institute.