In 2016, we started an experiment to see if adding plants to bare & messy front gardens could improve residents' wellbeing

Flowers are pretty (we went for pretty purples ones) so I was sure people would like it but I didn't expect physiological indicators of stress to change 1/

We collected saliva before & after to measure cortisol levels - a biological indicator of stress. We found that 24% of residents had a healthy diurnal cortisol pattern and after adding the plants this increased to 53% suggesting better health status in those individuals 2/

We had also asked residents to appraise their own stress levels (people do have a very good & reliable idea of how stressed they are)

Adding plants resulted in a 6% drop in perceived stress levels. This is equivalent to long term impacts of 8 weekly mindfulness sessions! 3/

It is startling that we found a significant stress reduction with just a few plants. Now we know that access to even a tiny patch of nature has beneficial effects for our health.

Green spaces & gardens are not a dispensable luxury but an active ingredient for wellbeing 4/

These mental health benefits are all on top of important ecological services that green spaces provide us: mitigation against floods & temperature extremes, wildlife habitats, better air quality... all increasingly important in our changing climate 5/

We hope that this evidence might help policy makers at local levels to make more informed decisions about the value of gardens in future housing developments, front garden paving regulations, but also health policies such as social prescriptions of gardening 6/

It's too easy to build unhealthy environments. Each of us can make some decisions that contribute positively or negatively to our environment BUT more importantly we need action & planning at a policy & industry level.

Greenery should not be an afterthought but a priority 7/

This study was part of my PhD @LandscapeSheff & @The_RHS I was guided by the most amazing supervisors @RossWFCameron @jennyjroe @BotanyRocks & Andy Clayden. We also got so much help from @nina_smyth & Tim Heaton without whom this would have been impossible. Thank you all 8/

TL;DR + =

Full scientific article here: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1bqKF_3sEQ8FNr
(message me if you're having problems, I'll send the pdf)

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