From soil to soul: How gardening can help you flourish

By Gerard Tan

Therapeutic horticulture refers to the use of gardening and other plant-centred activities to support or enhance health and wellbeing. Indeed, participating in gardening activities can have significant positive health outcomes. It can alleviate depression and anxiety symptoms, relieve stress, ameliorate mood disturbances, and reduce BMI. But health is a positive state of wellbeing, not just the absence of illness. Gardening can also add to participants’ quality of life, enhance their sense of community, increase physical activity levels, and improve cognitive function.

The outdoor context of gardening helps mitigate social isolation by providing opportunities to connect with others, whether accidental passers-by or co-gardeners. Digging, mowing and raking fits the description of moderate physical activity recommended by Australian guidelines. Tending the garden builds awareness of nature’s rhythms and the relationships between various plant and animal species. Gardening teaches lessons that extend beyond the plants and the creatures around them, and often encompass life itself. The garden also provides a bounty of cuttings, seeds, flowers and produce to share with neighbours and friends.

Gardening not only supports wellbeing but is also a useful metaphor for understanding its complexities. Just as roots anchor a plant and absorb critical elements from the soil, our physical wellbeing provides the foundation upon which a stable existence depends. A plant’s trunk and branches give it form and shape, just as our mental health moulds our lives and influences our experiences; its leaves hint at spiritual wellbeing – both draw energy from the natural world and a higher power (viz., the sun).

A plant’s flowers and fruit are emblematic of social wellbeing. A plant’s interactions with others in the garden – plants, and creatures such as bees and bats – are critical to successful cross-pollination and reproduction. Beach evening primrose flowers, Oenothera drummondii, produce sweeter nectar within minutes of exposure to the sound of a flying bee or synthesised sounds of similar frequencies. Carnivorous pitcher plants have developed acoustic reflectors to attract the bats that fertilise them.

If we were plants, the garden in which we are planted is our environment. Other flora represent the people around us –friends, family, community, and broader society. In the same way a plant would struggle in conditions that were not conducive to healthy growth and development, so too our wellbeing in the absence of a nurturing and supportive environment. Some plants may thrive against all odds. However, when a plant fails to thrive, the focus ought to be on changing the environment rather than on fixing the plant.

As every green thumb knows, soil amendments can help increase the soil’s ability to retain moisture, improve aeration and drainage, or correct nutrient deficiencies. Similarly, we can enrich our existence and grow by meeting new friends, learning new skills, or pursuing an interest. Just as compost is essentially waste that has been broken down, life’s experiences – both good and bad can provide valuable lessons when processed and digested mentally and emotionally. The process may take time and effort, but yields rich dividends in the end.

More information

Gerard is NGIV’s dedicated mental health clinician/ consultant. He supports NGIV member businesses in creating mentally healthy workplaces, and provides individual mental health and wellbeing consultations. The service is free and confidential. Scan the QR code to book an appointment.