Abstract
Domestic (home) gardens provide opportunities for psychological and physical health benefits, yet these environments have received less attention in terms of their therapeutic value compared to other urban green spaces. This is despite their ubiquity and the popularity of gardening as a pastime. This research explored why residents engaged with gardening and the extent to which they recognised any health benefits from the activity. A questionnaire was distributed electronically within the UK, with 5766 gardeners and 249 non-gardeners responding. Data were collated on factors including garden typology, frequency of gardening and individual perceptions of health and well-being. Significant associations were found between improvements in well-being, perceived stress and physical activity and more frequent gardening. Gardening on a frequent basis i.e. at least 2–3 times a week, corresponded with greatest perceived health benefits. Improving health, however, was not the prime motivator to garden, but rather the direct pleasure gardening brought to the participants. There was evidence that satisfaction with one's front garden and the time spent in it increased as the proportion of vegetation was enhanced. The data supports the notion that domestic gardens should be given greater prominence in urban planning debates, due to the role they play in providing health benefits.
Highlights
‘Gardening’ is defined as the activity of working in a garden, growing and taking care of plants, and keeping the garden attractive (Gillard, 2001)
Why is gardening so popular and what reasons do people garden for? Gardening has been linked to improvements in human health and well-being, but it is not clear what aspects of gardening promote health, or the extent to which any health benefits are recognised in the gardening community? The research presented here explores attitudes to domestic gardening and the extent to which gardening is seen as a health intervention
This study explored why people in the UK engaged with gardening and the extent to which any health and well-being benefits were acknowledged by gardeners
Summary
‘Gardening’ is defined as the activity of working in a garden, growing and taking care of plants, and keeping the garden attractive (Gillard, 2001). Residents, parks (Razani et al, 2018), nature reserves (Bell et al, 2018), street trees (Guo et al, 2020) and gardens (Bitterman & Simonov, 2017; Vujcic et al, 2017) are important locations to relax, find restoration from stress, engage with physical activity and help restore a sense of balance in one’s life (Tidball et al, 2019). Such aspects may help offset more serious mental and physiological health problems (Engemann et al, 2019). Enhancing the number of plant taxa present has been linked to stronger restorative effects (Young et al, 2020)
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