A new report released by the National Gardens Scheme has found that spending time in a garden can improve mental health. It emphasises the vital role that spending time outdoors played during the lockdown period in March and April.

The report brought together feedback from garden owners, people who had made use of the organisation’s virtual garden visits and an online survey conducted in August 2020.

Over 2,000 people responded with 92% saying their gardens and outdoor spaces were ‘extremely important’ to them during lockdown in terms of health and wellbeing. All of the respondents (100%) who were living in an urban or suburban environment during the lockdown period reported that spending time on their balconies or tending to window boxes helped to reduce their stress.

Chief Executive of the National Garden Scheme said, ‘Anecdotally, from the responses we received to our virtual garden visits during lockdown, we knew that gardens (real and virtual) were playing a significant and important role in people’s lives. In August, to back this up, we ran an online survey entitled ‘The importance of our gardens and outdoor spaces during lockdown’. ‘

Read the full report.