Over the last 50 years, studies have demonstrated the healing effects of nature. It has been shown so far that connection to nature reduces stress, improves cognition and positively influences mental and physical well-being overall.
The natural world provides a setting conducive to a journey of restorative recovery.
Research suggests that landscapes can help people in recovery for a variety of mental hardships in several ways:
Concerns about healing landscape design and its impact on children and adults alike has led to redefining outdoor spaces across various landscapes. Research has found that play has a significant role in a child’s healthy development (Moore, 2002), and a relationship to how children are able to manage trauma (St. Thomas and Johnson, 2007). Playful interactions with nature, other children, and play structures, as well as with adults and different materials available helps to stimulate the development of mind, spirit and body in a child (Moore, 2002).
For successful design of healthy landscapes, we identified three important considerations:
As landscapes of healing, the following case studies further explain how landscapes for healing can come in a variety of forms and functions. While a majority of healing gardens are located within a hospital setting, those case studies were minimized in order to extend the parameters.
Location: Wellesley, MA
Date Designed / Built: 1995-1998
Client: Institute for Child and Adolescent Development
Designer: Reed Hilderbrand
Location: Washington, DC
Date Designed / Built: 2006- 2010
Client: Brent Elementary Parents and Teachers Association & DC Public Schools
Designer: Sustainable Life Designs
Location: Oconomowoc, WI
Date Designed / Built: 2017
Client: Rogers Memorial Hospital
Designer: Hitchcock Design Group