Your well being garden

224 Pages·112.502 MB·English

US_002-003_Title.indd 2 13/11/2019 15:33
Your
Well-Being
Garden
HOW TO MAKE YOUR GARDEN GOOD FOR YOU
SCIENCE | DESIGN | PRACTICE
ALISTAIR GRIFFITHS
MATT KEIGHTLEY
ANNIE GATTI
ZIA ALLAWAY
US_002-003_Title.indd 3 13/11/2019 15:57
Contents
8 Your garden can heal…
10 Preface by Alistair Griffiths
12 Introduction by Matt Keightley
The Protective Garden
18 INTRODUCTION 44 CREATING A LOW-ALLERGEN GARDEN
46 Designing a haven for allergy sufferers
20 PLANTS AS POTENTIAL POLLUTION-BUSTERS
22 Which greenery is best? 50 MANAGING PESTS THE NATURAL WAY
24 Maximize your hedge’s effectiveness 52 Plants that protect
26 Designing your pollution barrier 54 Making friends with pest predators
28 No room for a hedge? 56 Welcoming in wildlife
30 From Matt Keightley: Designing your boundary
32 PLANTS AS POTENTIAL SOUNDPROOFING
34 Layer vegetation to filter sound
36 Planting for noise-buffering
38 Natural sounds to distract attention
42 From Matt Keightley: Designing around sound
US_004-007_Contents.indd 4 13/11/2019 15:33
The Healing Garden
62 INTRODUCTION 92 THE POWERFUL IMPACT OF SCENT
94 Designing your scented space
64 FEEL GOOD WITH VITAMIN G
96 Choosing your scents
66 Getting your dose of Vitamin G
98 From Matt Keightley: Designing your scented space
68 From Matt Keightley: Designing a secluded haven
100 HARNESSING THE POWER OF COLOR
70 HOW YOUR GARDEN HELPS TO REBOOT
102 Using color to excite
YOUR BRAIN
104 Using color to calm
72 How nature fascinates
74 Design your garden for fascination
110 THE RESTORATIVE EFFECTS OF WATER
76 Plant your garden for fascination 112 Design with water for well-being
78 Make a mindfulness corner 114 From Matt Keightley: Designing your water garden
80 From Matt Keightley: Designing your seating
82 Create a brain-boosting indoor garden 116 THE POSITIVE POWER OF BIRDSONG
118 Bring birds into your garden
84 HOW GARDENING CAN BOOST
122 DIRT IS GOOD FOR YOU
YOUR SELF-ESTEEM
86 Choose what works for you 124 Get digging to boost immunity
90 GARDENING TO OVERCOME ISOLATION 126 WHY THE GARDEN BEATS THE GYM
128 Good gardening technique
US_004-007_Contents.indd 5 13/11/2019 15:33
The Nourishing Garden
132 INTRODUCTION 150 GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD
152 Prepare for planting
134 THE SECRET LIFE OF HEALTHY SOIL
154 A year of vegetables
136 Boosting your soil
156 Making small spaces fruitful
138 THE DETOXING POWER OF PLANTS
140 Designing your perfect raised bed
144 A MEDICINE CHEST IN THE GARDEN
146 Designing a medicinal garden
148 Grow your own remedies
US_004-007_Contents.indd 6 13/11/2019 15:33
The Sustainable Garden
162 INTRODUCTION 194 PLANT A HAVEN FOR POLLINATORS
196 How to help pollinators
164 THE COOLING EFFECT OF PLANTS
198 Create a wildflower meadow
166 Keep your home naturally cool
200 Make a scented night garden
168 SAVE ENERGY WITH PLANTS
202 IS YOUR GARDEN REALLY “GREEN”?
170 Green wall insulation
204 Make your own compost
172 From Matt Keightley: Greening a garden room
206 SAVING AIR MILES ON CUT FLOWERS
174 FUTURE-PROOFING FOR DROUGHT
208 Plant a year-round cutting garden
176 Planting for drought resistance
178 A lawn to beat the heat
180 Be water-wise in the garden
212 Index
216 References
184 MAKE YOUR GARDEN A NO-FLOOD ZONE
186 How plants capture water 219 Further reading
222 About the authors
188 Make a flood-proof garden
190 Create a simple rain garden 223 Acknowledgments
192 From Matt Keightley: Designing a rain garden
US_004-007_Contents.indd 7 13/11/2019 15:33
Your garden
can heal…
Monty Don

Writer, gardener, and TV presenter
“
I know from personal experience how gardening helps heal many
mental and physical ills. When you are sad, a garden comforts.
When you are humiliated or defeated, a garden consoles. When
you are consumed by anxiety, it will soothe you, and when the
”
world is a dark and bleak place, it shines a light to guide you on.
Alice Vincent
Journalist and author
“
Your Well-Being Garden is that rare thing: a book that
will make gardeners out of people who didn’t know they
could be. With ideas for every kind of outdoor space, this
book beautifully explains how to improve the world
”
around us in a way that—crucially—makes us feel better.
US_008-009_Quotes.indd 8 13/11/2019 15:33
James Wong

Botanist, science writer, and broadcaster
“
Both as a plant scientist and a home gardener, I am a passionate
believer in the therapeutic power of plants. Professor Alistair Griffiths
has brilliantly summed up the most cutting-edge research in this
field in such a readable, relatable way, I am now his biggest fan.
”
And after this book, I reckon there’ll be a queue!
Ellen Mary
Presenter, writer, and gardener
“
When I spend time outside, I instinctively feel a natural shift allowing me
to tune in with everything around—from birdsong, worms working the soil,
and watching plants bloom, to the changing seasons. Touching the soil,
sowing seeds, and nurturing growth isn’t just about reconnecting with
nature, it’s about ‘remembering’ that we are nature. This mindful process is
so good for our well-being. When that realization happens, you can view the
”
world in a whole new way, and gardening allows that to happen every day.
US_008-009_Quotes.indd 9 13/11/2019 15:33
Preface
We are at an exciting time, for both gardens and people.
There is an ever-increasing body of scientific evidence that
gardens and gardening are good for our physical,
mental, and social well-being.
A gardening green revolution has started, highlighting and US universities, has been looking at how garden
the critical importance of gardens to human well-being. plants, gardens, and gardening impact on the
There are very few, if any, other activities that can environment and human health. The work has ranged
achieve all of the things that horticulture and gardening from desktop analyses of published research, own field
can—in particular, the measurable impact on active and laboratory research, and supervising and
lifestyles, mental well-being, and social interaction. supporting collaborative MSc, PhDs, and knowledge
Gardening helps us to keep fit and to connect with transfer partnership projects.
others, to enjoy and be part of nature, and to revel in Our aim is to explore a range of issues that affect
color, wildlife, and beauty. Simply contemplating nature gardens and the environment, as well as the wildlife
helps to rest and recharge our brains. Aside from and the people who use these spaces. In effect, the
cultivating beautiful plants that delight our senses, we scientific work looks at the “ecosystem services”—or
can also grow food and even cures for minor ailments benefits—that gardens and green spaces provide.
in our green spaces. Gardens and plants also improve This book, for the first time, brings to life the science
our environment, protecting us from noise and pollution, with practical ways of improving your garden. It is such
as well as extremes of temperature. an exciting time for all those who love plants and
Scientific research led by the Royal Horticultural gardens. And this is just the start.
Society (RHS) continues to improve and share
understanding on how to maximize gardening’s
benefits—to both human health and the environment.
For the past few years, the RHS Science Team— Professor Alistair Griffiths
primarily based at RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey— Director of Science and Collections
together with colleagues from several UK, European, Royal Horticultural Society
US_010-013_Alistair_Matt_intro.indd 10 13/11/2019 15:33