As Oliver Sacks, the celebrated neurologist and writer wrote: ‘I cannot say exactly how nature exerts its calming and organising effects on our brains, but I have seen in my patients the restorative and healing powers of nature and gardens, even for those who are deeply disabled neurologically. In many cases, gardens and nature are more powerful than any medication.’
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And it’s true: our brain health is enhanced by being in nature and by gardening, and this is because of the complex interaction of different cognitive processes we employ. It happens in a variety of different ways as we garden; these are both conscious and subconscious.
Brain power
We’re only just beginning to understand how the heady mix of so many different sensory signals in our gardens can affect us. In her new book Good Nature, Professor Kathy Willis explores these.
The verdant green of our surroundings, the shapes and patterns in the landscape, the scented aromatic chemicals released by plants and soils, the sounds of birdsong and leaves rustling in the wind, the impact of touching wood, leaves, water, as well as the richness of the microbiome that fills the air, all combine to enhance our cognitive state, increasing both our focus and cerebral capabilities, at the same time as relaxing our minds.
And consciously, when in the garden, we may be thinking strategically, using so-called executive function. This includes planning our garden layout, the plants we need to buy or propagate, where we might fit them in, the seed-tray Jenga we have to play in our greenhouse space, the crops we need to rotate, the impact of the weather forecast, working out the best time to harvest, and what to do or cook with what we’ve grown, as well as how all these tasks might fit into the time we have available.
And all the while we are driven onwards by the relentless progression of time. As the seasons move on, we need to keep up with them and their respective demands.
At the same time, the tasks themselves require our brains to work in a totally different way: often repetitive and involving the motor cortex of our brain, harnessing our manual dexterity.
Learned movements of seed-sowing, weeding, pricking out or potting on, or more vigorous activity, such as raking or digging, often become semi-automatic. As muscle memory takes over, the brain relaxes into the repetition that these activities require.
We gardeners can find that a deep sense of relaxation follows. Likened to mindfulness, these activities allow a kind of disconnect and reboot of the right and left sides of the brain that can be intensely restful, as other worries and stresses take on a new, less overwhelming perspective.
Cognitive gym
Creativity is a fourth aspect of cognitive function that’s brought to the fore in the garden. We’re trying to create a beautiful space, an outdoor room, to enhance our lives. I personally feel some sadness that years in clinical medicine have squeezed out much of my innate creativity.
I love that the garden reconnects me with art and craft, in the space that I’m working to create (with both help and hindrance from nature). But often creativity also is manifest in a make-do-and-mend way, as gardeners thriftily and craftily repurpose and recycle bits and bobs to suit their needs. The colourful and creative invention and imagination revealed on any allotment site always fills me with wonder.
So how can these benefits be harvested? Well, we can start young. A 2014 literature review revealed that gardening in childhood has been shown to enhance motivation, problem-solving skills and creativity.
Quantitative data is hard to establish, but verbal accounts of the RHS’s Gardening for Schools programme have described a powerful rebalancing across cohorts, whereby those who are considered less academic, or who struggle with focus in a classroom environment, suddenly start to match their peers across of a range of outcomes.
In the workplace, a green space indoors or out has an impact on focus, creativity and productivity as well as reducing the stress within the environment. Rates of attendance and sick leave also improve
for the better.
Delaying dementia
Dementia is less likely in cohorts of gardening adults. The Dubbo Study in Australia showed that activities including gardening can delay its progression, and, for those with established dementia, symptoms of stress and anxiety are diminished when time is spent in, or even simply looking at, a natural environment. Sacks noted that often patients with dementia find joy in connecting with the long-remembered rituals of garden tasks, in much the same way that they can do with music. Stress and agitation are reduced in care-home residents with dementia on the evenings after gardening sessions, such that staffing levels can even be reduced.
So, there’s plenty of evidence of the benefits to gardening for our brain-health and cognitive well-being. Now, if I could just figure out where I can squeeze in that gorgeous peony I fell for at
the garden centre…
Richard Claxton is a GP, garden designer and founder of green- prescribing network Gardening4Health