Why Wellbeing and Creativity Flourish Together in Gardens

For anyone fortunate enough to have outside space and a love of pruning hedges or planting seeds, tending to a garden can be a rewarding experience. 

As spring turns to summer, the warmer weather is a welcome invitation to spend more hours outdoors to enhance wellbeing with nature as your muse. While it can be cathartic to keep weeds at bay, it’s also important to allow yourself time to enjoy everything that’s magical about outdoor spaces rather than focusing on how much work there is.

Instead of donning a pair of gloves, indulge yourself in the natural beauty that lies in abundance in freshly-cut grass, a rewilding meadow or a window box on a balcony ledge. And, whether you have a small patio, communal gardens or love dog-walking in a local park, reignite your inner artist, photographer and crafter by getting creatively inspired in the greenery on your doorstep. 

Healing Properties of Green Spaces

Gardens are unique and inspirational settings where wellbeing and creativity naturally flourish together. The simple act of wandering through a neat lawn or past colourful floral display is enough to engage your senses, from a sweeping carpet of vibrant bluebells in spring to the soothing sounds of rustling leaves, scavenging squirrels in tree tops and enchanting birdsong. 

Research consistently shows that spending time in green spaces significantly reduces stress hormones like cortisol while boosting mood-enhancing endorphins. In the same way, studies have highlighted the importance of blue zones for boosting your mental and physical health, and connecting with nature. Green zones are equally beneficial for your overall sense of wellbeing. 

Gardens can offer a special kind of mindfulness experience too, and if you are surrounded by plants, flowers or butterflies, you’re likely to slow down and become far more present and able to appreciate the stunning sounds, smells and sights around you. The Japanese practice of “shinrin-yoku” (or forest bathing) points to the healing properties of being immersed in nature and the power it provides to create mental clarity and calm emotions. 

However, such sensory moments that are found in gardens can be the artistic impetus you need. With that in mind, take inspiration from your observations and pour them into every poetic scribble, charcoal drawing or wood carving you make. If you’re new to nature photography, you’ll find helpful guidance in MPB’s online tips to get you started. On the other hand, a more experienced painter may already see their garden as a natural extension of their artistic identity. 

Nurturing Creativity in Nature

Beyond their wellbeing benefits, over the centuries, impressive green spaces have long been the creative catalyst for philosophical thinkers, literary greats and world-famous painters. Many of the UK’s contemporary artists and poets draw inspiration from personal gardens, from walks in ancient walled grounds of manor houses, and as they wander past open fields filled with wildflowers. 

In turn, Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary about garden walks and Claude Monet’s time spent at Giverny resulted in countless masterpieces, as he famously stated, “My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece. I can only draw what I see. Everything I have earned has gone into these gardens.”

In addition, green spaces offer an exciting blend of nature—the manufactured and the conflicting realms of the organised and the wild. As an artist, you have an intriguing mix of discipline and freedom plus the changing colours, textures and shapes of trees, plants and flowers. The garden becomes a visual treat against the structures of outdoor shades, awnings and gazebos, all a fabulous fusion of the natural and manmade.

Re-Discovering the Joy of a Personal Retreat

Designing a garden in itself is an artistic endeavour and it doesn’t matter how much space you have or even if you have a tiny patio for you to reap the benefits. Even a small balcony or collection of potted plants can be enough for you to carve out a lovely sanctuary for peace and quiet, or as a place to set up your easels and paint brushes. Although spring is a great time to spruce up a garden, there is an art to growing and nurturing plants that will also boost your mental health and provide an enormous sense of personal achievement.

Likewise, if you want to carve out particular zones in a garden, no matter how small the space is, designing the areas, managing the unified appearance of an entire garden, seeing the ongoing progress and admiring the final results can be immensely satisfying and rewarding. Creating your own space also offers endless opportunities for self-expression, so merge artwork into planters, mix and match ceramic flowers with natural plants and choose schemes that reflect your personality. 

Whether you’re deadheading roses in your backyard, sketching in a botanical garden, or reading beneath a flowering plant, gardens offer a special kind of wellbeing medicine for modern life. They remind us to slow down, connect with natural rhythms, and open ourselves to beauty and inspiration.

Written by Annie Button

Annie Button is a freelance writer specialising in well-being and sustainable lifestyles, empowering readers to make impactful changes, one step at a time. She provides practical insights and solutions for achieving a balanced, sustainable lifestyle amid fast-paced contemporary living. 

https://www.anniebutton.co.uk/
X (formerly Twitter): @anniebutton1994

Image by Mariakray from Pixabay