Gardening can relieve human stress and boost nature connection during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted social life. Gardens and yards have seemingly risen as a lifeline during the pandemic. Here, we investigated the relationship between people and gardening during the COVID-19 pandemic and what factors influenced the ability of people to garden. We examined survey responses (n = 3,743) from gardeners who reported how the pandemic had affected personal motivations to garden and their use of their gardens, alongside pandemic-related challenges, such as food access during the first wave of COVID-19 (May-Aug 2020). The results show that for the respondents, gardening was overwhelmingly important for nature connection, individual stress release, outdoor physical activity and food provision. The importance of food provision and economic security were also important for those facing greater hardships from the pandemic. While the literature on gardening has long shown the multiple benefits of gardening, we report on these benefits during a global pandemic. More research is needed to capture variations in public sentiment and practice – including those who do little gardening, have less access to land, and reside in low-income communities particularly in the global south. Nevertheless, we argue that gardening can be a public health strategy, readily accessible to boost societal resilience to disturbances.     

Current and future directions in research on community gardens

There is increasing interest in community gardens where people collectively grow food in cities, reflecting concerns about food insecurity, loss of agricultural biodiversity, pollution, food miles and climate change, among other issues. Mirroring this is a growing corpus of research, but what themes does this literature examine, and how is it evolving including in relation to the findings of a previous systematic review in 2012? To identify who publishes on the topic, from where, in which disciplines and journals, and what are the major themes and gaps in the literature, we used a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach to review 1090 English language articles on community gardens identified from systematic searches of Scopus and Web of Science databases. The literature published from 1972 to 2021 was diverse in terms of discipline, subject area, and journal, but remains mostly about temperate regions, often in the United States of America (USA), with limited consideration of gardens in tropical and subtropical cities and cities in Asia, Africa and South America. Using thematic analyses based on keywords in VOSviewer, as well as titles and abstracts in Leximancer, we found there is ongoing interest in topics such as urbanization, diversity and health. While earlier research often focused on community benefits, recent research is examining climate change, food security and ecosystem services. Important thematic gaps remain including research about agrobiodiversity, the effects of uncertain land tenures and the roles of traditional knowledge in the gardens. The current review highlights how research on community garden continues to provide fruitful insights into diverse aspects of urban food production, while future reviews investigating literature in other languages, including more than just articles, and that used other terminology for the gardens would be beneficial.     

Constructing community gardens? Residents’ attitude and behaviour towards edible landscapes in emerging urban communities of China

Community gardens are very popular in developed countries, providing multiple benefits to inhabitants. In developing China, residents in many emerging urban communities of China have been appropriating and reclaiming public open spaces intentionally as a leisure opportunity and transforming their entertainment functions into vegetable plots, which has caused a series of conflicts and disputes. However, this issue of informal community gardening has rarely been discussed formally at community level. Therefore, this study aims to learn and better understand what factors motivate residents to reclaim existing public open spaces for gardening and cultivating plants. The approach was to select and study informal community gardens in three urbanizing communities in Hangzhou, China. These emerging communities consist, to a significant extent, of people with farming experience, who have relocated here from previously rural areas during the urban expansion from the year 2000 to the current day. The informal community gardening takes place in the context of lack of community management, neglected public infrastructure and a disregard for resident’s living needs such as their personal sentiment, social activity, food quality and saving expenses. While most people are willing to participate in community gardening and those who do not want to contribute are not substantially against the activity. In the conclusions, suggestions are made about how to fulfil resident’s requirements and are presented at both community and city levels so that they may inform to the growth of emerging communities in other cities and countries undergoing rapid urbanization.     

Integrating community gardens into public parks: An innovative approach for providing ecosystem services in urban areas

When planned coherently, urban green spaces have the potential to provide cities with a range of unique ecosystem services that support ecosystem and human health. This paper draws on existing green space planning literature to argue that the integration of community gardens into standardised and previously under-utilised public park landscapes represents an innovative approach to providing ecosystem services. Particular focus is given to the challenges facing green space planning in Perth, Western Australia. At an individual level, community gardens provide a venue for an alternative and more accessible form of physical activity – gardening – and a restorative park environment that is a more attractive destination for neighbourhood walking. At the community level, gardens can facilitate bridging interactions between different social groups, whilst providing opportunities for local residents to participate actively in green space planning processes. Perhaps most importantly, community gardens can provide unique opportunities for environmental education that lead to enhanced local ecological outcomes. The paper concludes with a brief overview of the main challenges likely to be faced with this integration, and some strategies that may allow them to be overcome. It is hoped this paper will provide a background for future case studies, and a catalyst for increasing integration between formal green space planning and community garden development.     

Enhancing urban nature and place-making in social housing through community gardening

There is a growing body of literature examining the multifaceted benefits of community gardens for environmental and social wellbeing. While there are studies examining the increase of grassroots urban gardening initiatives in low income and vulnerable communities, there remains a need for research that explores the lived experiences of individuals in social housing communities with urban nature and community gardens. Individuals living in urban social housing may experience inequalities in access to green infrastructure both within their housing estates as well as the surrounding community. For the past two decades, the Community Greening program at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Australia, has implemented outreach initiatives to support the development and maintenance of community gardens in social housing communities in New South Wales. This article presents the findings from a study conducted with participants at six new community gardens built in social housing communities, focusing specifically on focus group interviews with residents and staff questionnaires to examine the perceived impact of the Community Greening program. The participants’ narratives highlight program outcomes across the key themes of community gardens as sites for knowledge generation and connection to nature, sense of community, and improving residents' sense of pride and public perceptions of public housing. The findings suggest that community gardens enhance green infrastructure in social housing estates and their broader urban locales by improving access to green space and promoting place-making in social housing contexts. We conclude with a discussion of the recommendations and lessons learned that may help to inform future policies and practices when setting priorities that promote social and environmental sustainability in social housing.     

Integrating community gardens into urban parks: Lessons in planning,design and partnership from Seattle

With rising interest in urban agriculture and urban food issues, community gardens have become an increasingly welcomed feature of urban landscapes. Reflecting this growing interest and demand, there has been a corresponding shift from temporary occupation of vacant sites to integration of community gardens into urban parks system. Such integration holds significant opportunities for community gardens to achieve stability, expand their overall footprint, and become a more integral part of the urban built environment. But as community gardens become a more accepted feature of public parks, what are some of the key issues and challenges of integration? How can community gardens thrive under a different spatial and institutional framework that governs public parks? Using Seattle as a case study where integration of community gardens into public parks has a long history as well as significant recent growth, this article examines lessons and challenges of such integration. Specifically, it identifies lessons including the clarity of roles and responsibilities of different agencies and the importance of collaboration and partnership as well as participatory site planning and design. It also points to perception of community gardens as private use and spatial and programming conflicts between gardening and other park uses as continued challenges.     

“In the garden,I make up for what I can’t in the park”: Reconnecting retired adults with nature through cultural ecosystem services from urban gardens

While cultural ecosystem services (CES) provided by collective urban gardens have been researched for more than a decade, how knowledge of CES can inform the governance of gardens and enhance gardeners’ wellbeing remains a challenge. Retired adults are a group whose lives can be especially improved by collective gardening. We interviewed users of community and allotment gardens in Zagreb to explore their motivations for gardening and the influence of different forms of garden management on the generation of CES. Their responses were supplemented and contextualised by interviews with urban planners, academics and gardening activists. We used Fish et al. (2016) framework to identify CES in interviews. As expected, CES drove gardeners’ engagement. We grouped their motivations into six categories: escape, usefulness and tradition, home-grown produce, socialising, wellness, and private oasis. Interestingly, food production was only of secondary importance as a motivator of urban gardening. Findings are used to outline recommendations for urban planners and decision-makers regarding planning, design and management of collective gardens that would amplify the generation of CES for retired gardeners.     

Development potential of sky gardens in the compact city of Hong Kong

Sky gardens have been actively studied and installed in different cities. Their development potential in compact developing cities has received little attention. Using remote sensing and GIS techniques, this study evaluates the vegetation configuration and development potential of sky gardens in urban Hong Kong, their underlying location, land use and building factors, and future planning and implementation concerns. Existing sky garden area is limited with sparse vegetation cover and low biomass. Existing podium gardens exceed roof gardens by about nine times. District development age has little effect on existing and potential sky gardens. Old towns have higher potential roof and podium gardens than new towns in most land uses. The effect of land use on potential sky gardens varies greatly by districts. Buildings with 10–20 floors have higher potential roof gardens in most districts. Building area is the main determinant of potential roof garden, and population density of potential podium gardens. Three scenarios of realization, namely minimum (20%), medium (50%) and maximum (80%), are adopted to project sky garden provision in individual districts. The projection extends to the contribution of new sky gardens to urban greening in terms of green cover and greening rate in districts. The challenges include susceptibility to typhoon damage in high-rise exposed sites, aggressive weed invasion, lack of roof-slab loading data in old buildings, and poor building maintenance. The opportunities include affordability of the new technology, enabling government policy, and establishment of scientific and research foundation in the local context. The development strategy could aim squarely at stringent technical standards and contractor skill requirement, and programme prioritization based on research findings. The study provides useful hints, approaches and recommendations for a systematic sky-garden action plan in Hong Kong and other similar compact cities.     

园林植物景观意境创造的研究

园林景观只有被赋予一定的思想意境，并与景观要素相融合，才能真正的体现园林艺术价值。而园林植物因为蕴涵着深厚的文化内涵，承裁着丰富的文化信息，常用来进行园林意境的创造。结合实例对我国古典园林、现代园林运用植物造景创造园林景观意境的方法进行研究，揭示园林未来的发展应结合时代特点，并借鉴优秀的传统艺术手法进行园林植物造景意境的创造，融合植物造景的科学性和艺术性于一体。     

Tracing regime influence on urban community gardening: How resource dependence causes barriers to garden longer term sustainability

This article explores how resource dependence leads to barriers to urban community gardening. Nine barriers to urban gardening were identified: finance, space, organizational structure, water, external damage, soil, communication, interpersonal issues, and participation issues. Using process tracing and grounded theory, we found that these barriers could be divided into three groups: primary, secondary, and participation barriers. Primary barriers are caused and directly influenced by the regime, whereas secondary barriers are the result of decisions and actions taken while addressing the primary barriers. All of these barriers cause frustration and affects the ability of the gardens to retain and acquire new members. This affects the longer term sustainability of the gardens and their potential to contribute to an urban governance transition.     

The domestic garden – Its contribution to urban green infrastructure

Domestic gardens provide a significant component of urban green infrastructure but their relative contribution to eco-system service provision remains largely un-quantified. ‘Green infrastructure’ itself is often ill-defined, posing problems for planners to ascertain what types of green infrastructure provide greatest benefit and under what circumstances. Within this context the relative merits of gardens are unclear; however, at a time of greater urbanization where private gardens are increasingly seen as a ‘luxury’, it is important to define their role precisely. Hence, the nature of this review is to interpret existing information pertaining to gardens/gardening per se, identify where they may have a unique role to play and to highlight where further research is warranted. The review suggests that there are significant differences in both form and management of domestic gardens which radically influence the benefits. Nevertheless, gardens can play a strong role in improving the environmental impact of the domestic curtilage, e.g. by insulating houses against temperature extremes they can reduce domestic energy use. Gardens also improve localized air cooling, help mitigate flooding and provide a haven for wildlife. Less favourable aspects include contributions of gardens and gardening to greenhouse gas emissions, misuse of fertilizers and pesticides, and introduction of alien plant species. Due to the close proximity to the home and hence accessibility for many, possibly the greatest benefit of the domestic garden is on human health and well-being, but further work is required to define this clearly within the wider context of green infrastructure.     

Perceived COVID-19-related stress drives home gardening intentions and improves human health in Taiwan

The COVID-19 pandemic has added a layer of mental health problems and perceived stress. Home gardening is considered a good method to reduce perceived stress. The current research evidence is insufficient to understand the relationship and influencing factors between the intentions, behaviors, and benefits of home gardening during short-term COVID-19 events. Although the duration from the onset to stabilization of the outbreak lasted for only 1.5 months from May to June 2021 throughout Taiwan, the significant pandemic changes might have affected the perceived stress along with the intentions, behaviors, and benefits of home gardening. This study explored the relationship between pandemic stress and home gardening through online snowball sampling because of the strict social distancing regulations. A total of 1455 non-follow-up and internet questionnaires throughout Taiwan were collected during the wave onset, peak, easing, and stabilization stages. The questionnaire included questions on personal information, perceived pandemic stress, gardening intentions, gardening behaviors, and gardening benefits. This study showed that perceived stress increased from the pandemic onset to its peak, and decreased from the peak to stabilization stages. Home gardening intentions and behaviors also revealed similar trends. Higher pandemic-perceived stress directly increased home-gardening intentions and indirectly promoted home-gardening behaviors and benefits. Our findings indicated that home gardening is a positive element in reducing perceived stress. Lower gardening intentions and behaviors were observed when the high perceived stress was removed. This study suggests that home gardening was a valuable strategy for staying close to nature and obtaining multiple benefits during the peak pandemic period. Providing small-scale gardening activities and spaces is appropriate for obtaining gardening benefits and avoiding space abandonment after the pandemic. Providing seeds, seedlings, tools, knowledge, online home gardening programs, and small residential and food gardens is a valuable strategy for obtaining multiple benefits during the peak of the pandemic.     

Community gardens:An investment in social cohesion,public health,economic sustainability,and the urban environment

This study utilizes survey and interview data collected in 2018 and 2019 in the United States to examine a range of social, health, economic, and environmental benefits community gardens yield, as well as the political factors that enable and impede the success of community gardens. The results indicate there are a multitude of individual-level benefits that accrue to garden participants, as well as community-level benefits. The findings also suggest municipal governments can best aid gardens by providing long-term secure land access, affordable water access, administrative support, and plot fee structures that are inclusive to people of all socio-economic backgrounds.     

传统造园手法在现代景观设计中的应用——以上海静安雕塑公园现代梅园为例

中国传统园林精妙绝伦的造景手法及所蕴含的崇尚自然的精神为世人所称道,但在当代景观设计潮流中却充满盲目照搬西方园林的各种案例。文章通过对中国传统造园手法的分析,并结合具体实践案例的应用,对如何将中国传统造园手法结合现代景观设计建设进行探索。     

Show me your garden and I will tell you how sustainable you are: Dutch citizens’ perspectives on conserving biodiversity and promoting a sustainable urban living environment through domestic gardening

This paper focuses on Dutch perspectives on the issue of gardening for biodiversity and sustainable urban environments. A semi-qualitative survey based on multiple choice, open, and visual questions were conducted with a representative sample of the Dutch population (N = 517). The aim of the survey was to get a better insight into the way Dutch domestic gardens contribute to urban sustainability and biodiversity conservation. Cultural Theory was used as a heuristic framework for survey design and analysis. The results show that the Dutch population is best represented by the Egalitarian and the Hierarchist perspectives. The Egalitarian perspective has strong ecological ideals, but these ideals are not reflected in how most of them design and maintain their gardens in practice. There seems to be a strong cognitive dissonance in the relation between a majority of the Dutch garden owners and the design and maintenance of their gardens. Only a small group of people with an Autonomous perspective is able to bring their high ecological ideals into practice in their yards. The Individualist perspective group has least ideological and practical concern for gardening, sustainability and biodiversity. The results have been discussed in the context of global goals for sustainable cities and biodiversity, as reflected in the Aichi targets and the Sustainable Development Goals. The paper intends to provide policymakers and urban planners with levers to experiment with incentives to bridge gaps between private space and public interests (the public/private dilemma).     

The impact of gardening on mental resilience in times of stress: A case study during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore

To curb the spread of Covid-19, Singapore, like other cities, had to impose movement restriction and social distancing measures that may affect the well-being of its residents. In this paper, we assessed the potential benefits of gardening on the mental well-being of Singapore residents, based on the concept of mental resilience. We hypothesized that gardening activities promote mental resilience. A survey was administered on 8,786 participants of a “Gardening with Edibles” programme, measuring their mental resilience status, engagement in gardening activities and socio-demographic information. The mental resilience scores of participants who engaged in weekly gardening were compared with the scores derived from another survey conducted during the pandemic on an online community comprising demographically representative respondents with an interest on Covid-19 related community care. The results showed that the mental resilience of those who gardened was statistically significantly higher than the online community. Within the gardening group, those with less than one hour of weekly gardening time had significantly lower scores in their total mental resilience, and five out of seven resilience factors, “emotional regulation”, “relationship”, “confidence”, “positive thinking” and “spirituality”, compared to those with more weekly gardening time, showing that the efficacy of the mediating effects may peak at a weekly gardening time of between one to four hours. Home gardening may be an effective way for people living in densely populated cities to interact with nature and build mental resilience during the pandemic.     

The social and spatial dynamics of community food production: a landscape approach to policy and program development

Community food production in the form of home gardening, community gardening, school gardening, and urban farming continues to increase in popularity in many parts of the world. This interest has led to public and private investment in community food production and increased need for urban agricultural planning as a way to manage growth and prioritize resource allocation. Municipal planning and thoughtful institutional support for the practice will require program evaluation and greater attention to the spatial composition and configuration of this widely dispersed practice. This article explores the results of community-supported landscape socio-ecological research in Madison, WI (USA) to assess the spatial and social dynamics of community food production. Results indicate that community food production resources are unevenly distributed across the study area. Historic community garden placement does appear to be consistent with community prioritization which dictates placing resources in areas with low median household income. However, home garden presence and recent community garden placement both occur in areas of higher than average median household income. Specific focus is placed on how an understanding of landscape placement and pattern has helped inform attempts to meet municipal and regional objectives in addressing urban food insecurity.     

Exploring Floridians' perceptions of pollinator-friendly gardening to identify critical adoption barriers and strategies

Developed landscapes in urban and peri-urban environments significantly influence the diversity, abundance, and overall health of pollinator populations such as bees, butterflies, moths, and birds. Considering growing evidence demonstrating that pollinator health can be more robust in urban habitats than rural ones, the landscape development and management practices adopted in urban and suburban areas have a significant potential impact on pollinator health. Given their influence with respect to urban and suburban landscape management in Florida, it is critical to better understand the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of Florida residents regarding pollinator-friendly gardening practices such as the flowering plant installation or reduced pesticide application. To explore the most salient factors influencing residents’ adoption of pollinator gardening practices, we facilitated three elicitation focus groups with 20 residents representing three distinct regions in Florida. Data analysis generated a series of salient sub-themes across two thematic categories: ‘barriers’ and ‘solutions and strategies’. Major ‘barrier’ themes included ‘limited knowledge or information access’ about pollinator gardening, and ‘social norms/community expectations’. Major solution and strategy’ themes included ‘developing neighborhood/homeowner association buy-in,’ and ‘pre-installation research and planning’. Overall, findings demonstrate that Florida residents have strong views regarding both the most influential barriers to adopting or engaging in pollinator-friendly gardening and the most promising solutions or strategies to mitigate those barriers. These findings have tangible implications for educational practitioners interested in expanding distribution of targeted educational outreach to further promote the adoption of pollinator-friendly landscape management practices in Florida. Findings also have implications for researchers interested in further examining the socio-economic and socio-cultural factors most influential to residents’ pollinator gardening practices.