Peter Dowdall: Why gardening boosts our mental health

Irish Examiner

23-05-2025

Gardening has always been about more than just soil and seasons. It's therapy in its truest form. As the world spins ever faster and our lives become more screen-obsessed and stress-filled as we surround ourselves with gadgets designed to help us and to give us more free time to unwind, the garden remains a quiet sanctuary, a place to breathe, to feel, and to simply be.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and surely now, it's time we recognise gardening not only as a hobby or a passion, but as an antidote, a treatment, a lifeline.
There is something almost miraculous about how simply stepping into a garden changes us. The scent of the soil, the sound of leaves, the buzz of a bee, it's as if the natural world reaches out and settles a hand on our shoulder, saying, 'You're safe here, everything is ok.'
This isn't just my sentimentality talking, research is now catching up with what gardeners have known intuitively for centuries, that gardening is profoundly good for our mental health.
One voice on this subject is Dr Mark Rowe, a Waterford-based wellbeing expert who's done tremendous work linking the science of wellbeing with the everyday experiences that restore us. This year, he's chosen to highlight the role of awe, those moments that stop us in our tracks and fill us with wonder as a gateway to better mental health. 'In our fast-paced, hyperconnected world, awe is often overlooked, yet it's at the cutting edge of research on emotional wellbeing,' says Dr Rowe.
I couldn't agree more, and there are few places where awe is more accessible than the garden.
Watching a sunflower rotate with the sun, seeing a robin hop between branches as you weed, or noticing how the light shifts through a canopy of leaves, these aren't grand moments, but they are transformative. They ground us and give us time to pause.
Dr.Rowe explains that awe can reduce stress, ease negative self-talk, and even improve physical health by slowing heart rate and boosting immunity. He uses the acronym AWESOME to describe the benefits: Awe is an Antidote to stress, it brings Wonder and inspiration, Enhances health, raises Satisfaction with life, fosters Other-centred connection, sparks More curiosity and creativity and strengthens Emotional wellbeing. I think most gardeners would say, without knowing the science, that their garden makes them feel exactly that, awesome.
But awe in the garden isn't just about the general ambience. Certain plants have been shown to carry their own specific mental health benefits, plants that don't just feed the bees or the senses, but also our souls.
The scent of lavender is more than lovely, it's medicinal. Its essential oils have been shown to reduce anxiety, improve sleep quality, and lift mood. A lavender-scented breeze is nature's version of a big, deep breath.
While often associated with tea, growing chamomile, Matricaria chamomilla, in your garden brings its benefits closer to home. Its fragrance has soothing qualities, and the simple act of harvesting and drying the flowers to make tea becomes a meditative ritual in itself. Chamomile is often referred to as the 'plant's physician', believed to heal the plants growing nearby.
Part of the mint family, lemon balm, Melissa officinalis, has a bright citrus scent and has long been used to reduce stress and promote better sleep. It's the kind of plant that makes you want to touch it; the more you brush it, the more it rewards you with fragrance.
Roses, especially heritage and scented varieties, are beautiful, but they're also emotionally powerful. The scent of a rose has been shown in aromatherapy studies to lower anxiety and even reduce cortisol levels.
While best known as a herbal remedy for depression, the bright yellow flowers of St John's Wort, Hypericum perforatum, can also bring joy just by their presence in the garden. A word of warning here, though, as those cheerful yellow blooms may soon become something you dread, as it is invasive. I would strongly suggest only growing this wonder plant in pots or very contained areas, as to leave it loose in the garden is inviting trouble upon yourself.
Caution is always advised before ingesting any herbs for medical reasons. I am a gardener and not a medical herbalist or a doctor, so always seek professional advice.
Even if you never grow a single lavender sprig or harvest a chamomile flower, the act of gardening itself, kneeling in soil, pruning back the old to make way for the new, tending and waiting, trusting and learning the value of patience, is therapy in motion.
It puts us in touch with the natural world, reminding us that everything has its season, and that growth often comes after periods of dormancy.
Gardening and just being in a garden allow us to lose ourselves. In a world where we're constantly expected to be something, to perform, to succeed, to post about it online, the garden gives us permission to simply exist. And in doing so, we often rediscover the parts of ourselves that got lost in the noise.