“It made me feel brighter in myself”- The health and well-being impacts of a residential front garden horticultural intervention

Abstract

Residential gardens make up 30% of urban space in the UK, yet unlike many other green space typologies, their role in the health and well-being agenda has largely been overlooked. A horticultural intervention introduced ornamental plants to 38 previously bare front gardens (≈ 10 m2) within an economically deprived region of North England, UK. Measures of perceived stress and diurnal cortisol profiles (as an indicator of health status) were taken pre- and post-intervention (over 3 months). Residents reported significant decreases in perceived stress post-intervention. This finding was aligned with a higher proportion of ‘healthy’ diurnal cortisol patterns post-intervention, suggesting better health status in those individuals. All residents derived one or more reported socio-cultural benefits as a result of the front garden plantings, although overall scores for subjective well-being did not increase to a significant level. Further qualitative data suggested that the gardens were valued for enhancing relaxation, increasing positive emotions, motivation, and pride of place. The results indicate that adding even small quantities of ornamental plants to front gardens within deprived urban communities had a positive effect on an individual’s stress regulation and some, but not all, aspects of subjective well-being. The research highlights the importance of residential front gardens to human health and well-being, and thus their contribution to the wider debates around city densification, natural capital and urban planning.