Hope in Gardening

HRI Research • May 1, 2020

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” — Lady Bird Johnson

If you follow our blog, chances are you already know all about how plants can help people feel better. You’ve probably experienced this firsthand. One of my favorite things at the moment is working in my garden – I pull weeds for at least 15 min every day (curse you, winter annuals!) and have been cramming as many perennials into my mulch beds as possible (thank you to all the growers who sell directly online!).

I may regret the plant density in a few years, but it sure helps me cope today.

Spending just 15-20 minutes in nature (a garden or a park or a forest) has been shown to relieve stress and improve your mood. Bonus: it’s healthier than eating that pint of ice cream! These easy, low-cost techniques are especially important now, as we may be overwhelmed by anxiety and fear of the unknown.

Houseplants can help too! Research has shown that office plants can reduce employee sick time by 14% and improve work productivity. If you’re now working from home, consider adding a houseplant or two to your office

space. Last weekend I bought a ZZ plant to add to the ‘tropical rain forest’ (my son’s phrase to describe our collection of houseplants) in my house. Heck, I’ve even committed to buying fresh flowers every week until this settles. The more bright and cheerful, the better!

Our whole industry is dialed into this concept. Industry leaders pinpointed the need to better quantify the benefits of plants, including environmental, societal, and impact on human health, at a roundtable meeting in 2018. HRI trustees took it one step further and adopted this as a key research priority to guide our competitive grants program, our priorities with federal funding partners, and our outreach activities.

For example, this year HRI funded a project led by Dr. Anita Catlin, Manager, Research and Design, Kaiser Permanente Vallejo, Northern CA, designed to evaluate the therapeutic value of a shared gardening experience between the caregiver and the care recipient. Basically, they are looking at the benefits of gardening not only on a patient, but also the patient’s support person. More about our funded projects can be found on our website.

HRI also partnered with Dr. Charlie Hall, Texas A&M ag economist, to develop a video highlighting plant benefits to human well-being. It’s a great video!

Finally, Dr. Hall published a series of articles in HRI’s journal, Journal of Environmental Horticulture (JEH), on this topic. They include:

All articles in JEH are open access and free to anyone in the world…just click on the links. Plus each article includes a ‘Significance to the Industry’ section.

As many localities are increasingly turning to shelter in place orders and/or closure of nonessential businesses, surround yourself with plants!

….and stay safe

Dr. Jill Calabro
Science & Research Director

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