Can Gardening Help You Overcome Depression?
Maria Gaian, Alchemical Ecotherapist & Gardening Fan
Is Gardening a Magickal Cure for Depression?
Could gardening help you to overcome depression?
One of the first bits of advice you get when you’re depressed, is ‘get outside more.’
Oh boy, how I hated that advice.
The last thing I wanted to do when I was depressed was get dressed and go out in public.
Hell no!
It wasn’t happening.
It’s such a pain to go outside, especially when the last thing you want to see is other people. Ugh!
Nightmare, right?
But when I started my journey to recovery from depression, I knew I had to make the effort to get out outside again.
Watching the Gardeners’ World show on TV (BBC), I saw so many people who’d suffered from depression claiming that gardening had been a miracle cure for them.
Could it work for me?
Can gardening really help you to overcome depression?
I didn’t know, but I was willing to give it a try.
Luckily for me, I’d inherited a very messy, unkempt, overgrown garden and just like me, it was in need of some TLC.
At first, I’d look at it and feel overwhelmed.
But then I started challenging myself to do something small every day.
I started off by pulling the odd weed out.
Just doing that made me feel productive because I could see a difference straight away.
Then I started cutting back overgrown shrubs.
Underneath these bushes were plants that were just like me, fragile and searching for a glimmer of light in the darkness.
Some of these plants were so leggy from reaching for the sun that they were too weak to stand.
They had to be cut back so that they could start over, this time growing strong and steady.
Pretty soon the garden began to come back to life.
I was surprised at the variety of plants that started to pop up again now they could find the light.
The space that was once full of weeds and overgrown shrubs was actually filled with beautiful perennial flowers.
My overgrown and neglected garden had once been loved.
Being given some TLC brought the garden, and me, back to life.
Instead of hiding away in my room all day, I found myself outdoors for longer periods.
I even managed to persuade my non green fingered husband to come out and dig with me!
That made me feel supported and less alone.
The seeds started sprouting, flowers bloomed and I felt a sense of achievement that I’d not felt for a long time.
I began to feel more positive.
Every day I looked forward to seeing what might be germinating or flowering.
Gardening helped me to heal from depression, without a doubt.
Getting outside in the garden was the catalyst for me feeling brave enough to other things.
Because I was doing outside work, I started to get dressed!
That was a huge achievement.
Because I was dressed, I felt able to walk my dogs again and I even began venturing to the top of the road to meet my girls off the school bus.
I didn’t have to worry about people seeing me in my saggy old jamas with my unkempt hair and sad, often tear stained, face.
For me the only thing worse than the depression was the thought of other people knowing I was depressed!
I carried so much guilt and shame about it.
It’s not just me or the people interviewed on the Gardener’s World that are benefiting from gardening.
There are hundreds of studies being done all over the world, (but particularly in the UK and Japan) into the effects that gardening has on people struggling with mental health issues.
There is increasing evidence that exposure to plants and green space, and particularly to gardening, is beneficial to mental and physical health, and so could reduce the pressure on NHS services.
Health professionals should therefore encourage their patients to make use of green space and to work in gardens, and should pressure local authorities to increase open spaces and the number of trees, thus also helping to counteract air pollution and climate change.
Why does gardening seem to be so beneficial to health?
It combines physical activity with social interaction and exposure to nature and sunlight. Sunlight lowers blood pressure as well as increasing vitamin D levels in the summer, and the fruit and vegetables that are produced have a positive impact on the diet.
Working in the garden restores dexterity and strength, and the aerobic exercise that is involved can easily use the same number of calories as might be expended in a gym. Digging, raking and mowing are particularly calorie intense; there is a gym outside many a window.
The social interaction provided by communal and therapeutic garden projects for those with learning disabilities and poor mental health can counteract social isolation. [Note: social isolation is a common cause of depression, Maria]
Regular moderate intensity exercise may reduce the risk of mental health problems,……. and in an Australian study, gardening was found to be more effective than walking, education or maintaining alcohol intake at moderate levels in protecting against dementia. [Gardening] enhances self esteem.
He goes on to say that:
Few complementary therapies have been convincingly shown to be effective, but gardening and nature, which are alternative therapies, offer a proven, cheap and nearly universally available means to improve the nation’s health. Although there is evidence that knitting can also help!
I love that last bit about knitting – we’ll look into that in another post, I think!
In another study published in March 2024, researchers discovered that:
Visiting greenspace links with lower stress, anxiety, and depression, positively moderated by connection to nature.
There was however, a caveat.
We find that on average, people who visit public greenspace more often had lower stress, anxiety and depression scores than people who visit public greenspace less often.
However, when we consider the variation of an individual’s connection to nature, the reduction in stress, anxiety, and depression varied depending on a person’s connection to nature.
Specifically, people with a weak connection to nature exhibited little reduction in stress and anxiety scores even when they visited public greenspace frequently.
Analysis of depression scores showed a similar trend as the stress and anxiety measures, with a lower effect for individuals with a low connection to nature.
You can read the full report here: https://rdcu.be/dWpfG
So the key to reducing your depression and stress levels is increasing the strength of your connection to nature.
And one of the best ways to increase your connection with nature is to get involved in gardening.
Before you get stressed out about how you’re going to do that, it doesn’t have to be difficult.
And don’t dismiss gardening as an option for you if you don’t have a greenspace at home.
I’ve got some very simple tips for you to try.
How on Earth can you get started with gardening?
Maybe you aren’t green fingered.
Or you haven’t had any interest in gardening up to now.
But I’m telling you from experience that there’s something about gardening that helps to heal depression.
It really is worth a try!
Even if you don’t think you’re very good at it!
Being connected to nature can heal your wounded soul.
And if you only have a balcony or no garden at all, it’s ok!
Indoor gardening can help you to overcome depression, too!
You can buy a pot and grow something in it. Doesn’t matter what it is.
(Even a cactus, if you must. Personally, I hate cacti, they’ve made it their mission in life to stab me with their angry little spines.)
♣ Tend to it.
♥ Water it.
♣ Feed it.
♥ Talk to it.
It’s therapeutic.
Really!
If you want some inspiration on creating an indoor garden, follow my indoor plant board on Pinterest.
Another option if you don’t have a garden space or room for a few indoor plants, is to take on an allotment.
An allotment is a small piece of land rented out for the purposes of growing veggies and flowers.
Allotments are popular in the UK, but nowadays they can be difficult to get.
With this in mind, why not find some other people who want to share the plot and the costs. It makes life a lot easier if you can share tasks. Plus you get some much needed social interaction.
Here in Spain, where I live, there are new initiatives being set up in urban areas to provide allotments to the community. Believe it or not, the allotments are free with some even offering free access to tools and seeds. (I love Spain so much!)
If you can’t get hold of an allotment where you live, maybe you can find a community garden?
There are many of these being set up all over the world. Some of them are specifically aimed at helping people with mental health issues and have a MH professional on site to speak to you.
It doesn’t matter how much gardening knowledge or experience you have, you can still join in.
It’s a good way to meet new people, get chance to talk about how you’re feeling, learn a new skill and get some fresh air.
There are some links to physical gardening groups below. Check them out.
You don’t have to do it alone.
If you’ve come across me already, you’ll know that the Gaian Method of managing depression includes the healing ‘C’ words.
Gardening can help you with several of them. It offers you connection with the Earth and other people.
Creativity comes through designing beautiful spaces, making flower arrangements, or even making fantastic meals from what you grow.
And then there’s the contribution to the local birds and pollinators.
Contribution can sometimes go further than that! I’ve heard of many allotment and community garden organisers who donate excess produce to food banks and other people in need.
And if you want to try something a bit different, I’ve created a couple of garden themed rooms in the Ditch the Black Dog of Depression Virtual Retreat.
You can follow challenges, get inspiration, ask questions and share your garden with everyone if you want.
Could gardening help you overcome depression?
I believe it can.
But it comes with a warning!
My little forays into the garden turned into a full on obsession and these days I have a dedicated veg plot and pots of plants all over the damn place.
They bring me the sort of joy that I didn’t think I’d ever feel when I was depressed.
You too could become a gardening fanatic or find your path as a Green Witch!
Do you find gardening therapeutic?
Are you already using gardening as part of your recovery?
I’d love to hear about it.
Useful Links:
How Thrive in the UK helped John with mental health issues and isolation:
https://www.thrive.org.uk/how-we-help/what-we-do/social-therapeutic-horticulture
Regional groups for the American Horticultural Therapy Association – they should be able to guide you to a group near you.
https://www.ahta.org/regional-groups
The Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association has some excellent resources here:
Therapeutic Horticulture Australia
♥ If you have a useful link you’d like me to share, please get in touch and I’ll add it.
I have a board on Pinterest for gardening ideas if you want to take a look.
Come follow me, I’d love to connect with you and share ideas!
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I’d love to know what you think about gardening as a way to manage depression.
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Maria Gaian
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