Older adults’ domestic green environments: the preference for flowers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Greenspaces and access to nature are widely accepted as being beneficial to older adult’s health and well-being. Less well known are the natural elements in their domestic outdoor environments that are used and preferred. In this paper, we identify those most preferred by 72 older adults in New Zealand living in family homes, downsized homes and rest homes. Through the use of geographic information system mapping and photos, we assessed how these individual elements relate to residence type, age, frailty and intrinsic interest in nature. The type of residence and innate nature relatedness were strongly reflected in the items selected by participants. The elements most frequently reported across all residence types were primarily non-native flowers/flowering shrubs and trees, sitting places, views, birds, vegetables, fruit and herbs. The findings have implications for landscape garden design and plant selection but also present a challenge for encouraging more native species in domestic environments.