Gardening for health and wellbeing

By Sophie

Gardening is good for us! The simple act of being outside, connecting with nature, working with soil and plants and listening to birdsong – these all play a crucial role in keeping us well. Gardening and gardens themselves can offer solace, sanctuary and healing, something of pertinence in a modern world of increased urban living and digital demands.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has long been championing the health and wellbeing benefits of gardening and is a strong advocate of how gardening can improve both physical and mental health, for example by boosting mood and self-esteem and reducing anxiety. The RHS website has a whole host of articles, advice and scientific research linking gardening to health, and offers information on gardening for different health conditions including dementia, stroke, sight loss and terminal illness, as well as details on RHS wellbeing gardens to visit. 

Connecting people and plants

Socialising with others whilst gardening is a particularly powerful combination in terms of improving human health and wellbeing. Creating a green space for people to come together with a shared sense of purpose and occupation has tangible health outcomes. So much so, that gardening and a ‘dose of nature’ is now widely prescribed by GPs across the country. Known as social prescribing; green prescriptions for gardening are offered to patients suffering from a range of illnesses, in combination with other treatments such as medication and talking therapies. 

One organisation, Thrive, is leading the way in what has been termed Social and Therapeutic Horticulture (STH). Since the 1970s, Thrive has offered training in STH to a range of practitioners to equip them to use gardening as a tool for people to work together to improve health. The charity operates several gardens in the UK, including London, Birmingham and Reading and holds garden open days for the public throughout the year.

Community gardens provide valuable green spaces for people to both connect and garden. The National Garden Scheme (NGS) is a strong supporter of both community gardening and the link between gardening and health. The organisation offers a funding programme for community gardens and a chance for them to open as part of their Open Garden scheme. In addition, every May (3-11 May in 2025) the NGS holds a ‘Gardens and Health Week’ to promote the wide range of gardens that offer gardening for health. 

If you are considering getting involved and perhaps volunteering at a community garden, Gardens4Health has compiled a useful directory with interactive map, listing community gardening projects offering STH throughout the country.

Wellbeing garden design

If you have your own space in which to garden, it may be worth considering whether it works for you in terms of wellbeing. Could some simple design enhancements be made to help improve your garden and make you feel better for it?  Careful choices in terms of planting are key for wellbeing and things to look out for are plants that offer scent, colour and perhaps planting something you can also eat, whether it be some vegetables, fruit or herbs.

The RHS book - Your Wellbeing Garden – How to Make Your Garden Good For You – offers a practical guide on designing your garden with wellbeing in mind. Suggestions for planting for scent include jasmine, rosemary and lavender and there is a whole chapter explaining the importance of colour in gardens, with ideas for using colour to calm or excite. The book also suggests ways of incorporating water features, as well as looking at innovative ways to welcome in wildlife.

Pioneering projects 

The Serge Hill Project based in Hertfordshire is a fairly newly formed project which aims to foster community inclusion through gardening. It was founded in 2023 by Sue Stuart-Smith (author and psychotherapist) and her husband Tom Stuart-Smith (landscape architect). They have created a garden that offers a wellbeing space and resource for local primary and secondary schools, youth organisations and mental health charities, as well as local residents. Sue Stuart-Smith is also the author of The Well Gardened Mind, which tells the life stories of communities and projects both in the UK and abroad, that have used gardening to improve health and wellbeing.

Other interesting projects that bring the benefits of gardens and gardening to people who need it the most are:

• Horatio's Garden - gardens for patients with spinal injuries;

• Maggie's Gardens – gardens for patients dealing with cancer;

• NHS Wellbeing Gardens – a range of gardens for patients at hospitals in partnership with the RHS.

  
  

Gardening for any mood

Gardening can offer an activity for however you are feeling – from hard pruning to ease some stress, to watering to instil a sense of calm, or weeding for that ‘before and after boost’ and to feel like things are under control. Both seed sowing and bulb planting also offer hope and something to be looking forward to in the months ahead. 

So, with all that in mind, what are you waiting for? Make some time to get outside and get gardening! You’ll feel better for it.