We’re celebrating The Great Outdoors with this year’s Little Yellow Book of Gardens and Health which is full of personal and practical stories that will move and inspire you.
“This is a Little Yellow Book with a big message,” says CEO, Dr Richard Claxton. “Through the tapestry of stories within its pages the power and impact of gardens for health and healing is clear. As individuals we need to grab this message and invest in building green time into our daily lives and routines. As a society we can’t afford not to.”
The garden designer, TV presenter and National Garden Scheme Trustee reveals why her mission to raise awareness of Parkinson’s through this year’s Chelsea Flower Show is so deeply personal. And how National Garden Scheme garden owners living with Parkinson’s have become her Head Gardeners.
Lowri Haf is a publicity volunteer on the Gwynedd team in Wales. At 26, she’s one of the youngest people volunteering for the National Garden Scheme and, always keen to attract younger supporters, we asked Lowri to tell us about her first garden visit. Here are her observations from her visit to Coed Ty Mawr.
What started as a record of the heightened awareness of gardens as we headed out of the pandemic in 2021, has become an increasingly significant annual publication and a highlight of our Gardens and Health Week each May. You can view the last four editions of our Little Yellow Book of Gardens and Health here.
A report published by the National Garden Scheme confirms the important health benefits that visiting a garden in the darkest days of winter can provide. With research conducted across National Garden Scheme gardens that open in both the winter and the summer, our survey respondents felt that winter is the perfect time to observe the emergence of new growth, be surrounded by nature and to enjoy a sense of hope as spring returns.
Dr Susan Taheri, an NHS GP for over twenty years, recognised the value of gardening for her own health and was keen to find a way of sharing this. She embarked on an exciting new project with Green Social Prescribing at its heart. We spoke to Susan to find out more…
Our changing climate is challenging traditional gardening methods. After one of the muddiest winters on record, this summer’s lawns are cracked and brown, and flower beds are wilting in the heat. Resilience has become the gardener’s new watchword. So how do we prepare our gardens for flood and drought, pests and disease? Let’s start with the soil.
A champion of community gardens, National Garden Scheme Ambassador Danny Clarke shares his thoughts on the importance of gardening not just for individual health and wellbeing but for community cohesion.
Imagine if you came away from your doctor’s surgery with a truly green prescription – Dr Richard Claxton takes a light-hearted look at green prescriptions.
The enjoyment of a garden is not easily captured by words. It is a whole-body experience; inherently active and sensory. Find out more about the sensory benefits of gardens with English Heritage HBGTP trainee Ben…
If you don’t have much of a garden (or even if you do) small green roofs, on garden buildings like sheds, offices or bin stores, can bring huge benefits to local bees, bugs and butterflies. What’s more, they can considerably improve the look of something that it otherwise ordinary.
The National Garden Scheme promotes the health benefits of gardens to people and the vital role gardens play for biodiversity too. We can’t imagine a garden without bird song but our song birds are under threat, SongBird Survival share their tips to support our garden birds.
After a paralysing accident, surgeon Mo Belal made it back as a surgeon dealing with patients with spinal cord injury. Inspired by his time in a Horatio’s Garden he also became a trustee of the charity.
Thanks to the National Garden Scheme’s partnerships with the WWT and Carers Trust a group of young carers have been given a well-deserved break with a trip to the stunning WWT London Wetland Centre.
There is a private garden in Ripon, North Yorkshire that should be on everyone’s garden prescription list. From the beautiful formal gardens to the sweeping parkland and newly created Physic Garden, there is a world of history and horticultural to explore. If you’re looking for ‘green medicine’ this is the garden for you…
Garden owner Shirley Sills has been gardening for over 50 years and opens her second garden for the National Garden Scheme in Gloucester in 2025. It is her garden that now plays a key role in helping her cope with her husband’s life-changing Parkinson’s diagnosis and her change of role from wife to carer.
Overcoming a critical illness often encourages people to review their priorities. For garden owner Stacey McGovern that meant embarking on a garden design course and developing her love of gardens into her own business. She also opens her lovely garden in Hertfordshire for the National Garden Scheme
There is a garden that opens for the National Garden Scheme called Shakespeares Cottage and, as fate would have it, the story of those who live there is by turns tragic and romantic. Tragic in that the owners were both sadly widowed but romantic in that they are teenage sweethearts reunited after fifty years apart.
For garden designer Dee Venner visiting a National Garden Scheme garden had long been part of her enjoyment of gardens. But in 2019 a cancer diagnosis made her re-evaluate what was important. Deciding to focus fully on her family and gardens she became a volunteer for the charity and in 2023 took on the role of County Organiser for North Yorkshire.
Designer, writer and broadcaster Hazel Gardiner’s life has been shaped by the beauty of design, floristry and gardens, both as a visitor and a gardener. She shares her experiences of the power of gardens, including Maggie’s, not just to inspire, but also to aid recovering after a life-threatening illness.
Jean and Peter’s energy and passion, not just for their garden, but for their rescue dog Molly, their family and their various hobbies and interests – including maintaining an allotment – all contribute to their being nearly 90 years young. Find out what role their garden and gardening plays in their longevity and good health.
Influencer and regular garden visitor Lucy Mantle talks to us about how she found peace in the garden in the wake of a life changing diagnosis and how she lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome & Autonomic Dysfunction.
National Garden Scheme funding of the NGS Elsie Wagg Scholarship programme will support five community nurse-led projects focussing on the potential of gardens to improve the physical and/or mental health.
In a changing climate ensuring that our gardens are climate resilient is becoming an increasingly important consideration for gardeners and home owners keen to keep things cool, green and bursting with diversity. From green roofs to replaced paving to tree planting there are a number of things we can all do to help protect our precious green spaces and conserve vital resources.
WHISH is a small, parent led charity supporting over 150 children and young people in the Whitby & Esk Valley rural area who have a disability or hidden impairment. Their Community Garden Grant has helped transform the garden, encouraging children and families to grow and cook food, and become a haven for those families who do not have an outside space of their own.
A new restful ‘sanctuary’ for vulnerable older Londoners is underway at Thrive London with the support of a £27,000 grant from the National Garden Scheme. The Sanctuary Garden will provide a peaceful, safe and accessible space for older and disabled people especially those living with dementia and their carers.
The latest report on the nurse led garden and health projects supported by the NGS Elsie Wagg Scholarship programme has been released. Designed to support the health benefits of gardening and garden visiting among a group of people the projects have clear and measurable benefits in physical, mental and emotional health. The specific benefits of individual projects vary quite widely, while also sharing common themes.
This year’s Little Yellow Book of Gardens and Health is subtitled ‘Bring me Sunshine!’ and celebrates the joy of gardens. When the world around us can sometimes be overwhelming there is always solace, calm, friendship, community and joy to be found in a garden, whether it belongs to you or someone else. Packed full of stories from our garden owners and our beneficiaries, it takes you from the joy of creating a garden for RHS Chelsea to the calm, and happiness, that a community garden provides for so many. We hope you enjoy our interactive digital book.
In 2024 The Fathom Trust received a National Garden Scheme Community Garden Grant to create an apothecary garden so they could expand upon the social and therapeutic gardening activities already taking place at their hub in the Brecon Beacons.
A derelict patch of land behind a library in Leicestershire is now bursting with life with a vegetable patch full of produce, a berry patch and a wildflower corridor full of native wildflowers.
For The Gateway Community Garden in Reigate, Surrey receiving a Community Garden Grant from the National Garden Scheme has helped them with the next chapter of their development.
Roger’s retirement motto is ‘find the joy and fill your life with it’. His story reveals what role the garden plays in realising that aspiration. Building and sharing a garden, he told us, is a primary source of joy.
The community garden at Wicor Primary School has been opening for the National Garden Scheme since 2013, inspiring pupils, staff, visitors and volunteers alike. We caught up with Louise Moreton, Horticulturalist (and National Garden Scheme volunteer) to find out how it’s all growing…
For Ginny Fairfax gardening has blossomed from ‘needs must’ to a wonderfully fulfilling joy of sharing. She has opened two beautiful gardens for the National Garden Scheme since 1991, and in 2024 they open together for the first time on 23 June 2024.
Hurdley Hall in Montgomeryshire is home not only to a stunning garden but a wildflower Coronation Meadow. Whether you garden is large or small there is always room for wildlife.
2024 is a special year for the National Garden Scheme’s partnership with Maggie’s. Not only have we continued to help fund the charity in building gardens at its cancer support centres but The National Garden Scheme Garden created for RHS Chelsea this year, will be relocated to the new Maggie’s garden at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge after the show.
Paul and Su support Maggie’s because they are lovers of modern design and architecture as well as admirers of Maggie’s work and have opened their garden Pheasant Barn in Kent for the National Garden Scheme for 14 years.
Horatio’s Gardens are sanctuaries that provide life-changing support when life takes an unexpected turn. Here’s Paul’s story…
For Hildegard Wiesehofer a cancer diagnosis changed her life and the way she approached her garden, this is her story
The National Garden Scheme is delighted to announce the distribution of £247,502 of funding to 95 community garden projects across England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2024.
Five new gardens and health projects led by community nurses have started their year-long innovation programme as part of the NGS Elsie Wagg Innovation Scholarship, a unique partnership between the QNI and the National Garden Scheme created to show how nurses working in community settings can use the power of gardens and garden visiting to improve people’s health.
What started as a record of the heightened awareness of gardens as we headed out of the pandemic in 2021, has become an increasingly significant annual publication and a highlight of our Gardens and Health Week each May. You can view the last three editions of our Little Yellow Book of Gardens and Health here.
Ponthafren applied for a Community Garden Grant to bring the garden back to it’s former glory after it fell into disrepair during Covid 19
Killicomaine residents used a Community Garden Grant to create a safe and welcoming community space & outdoor kitchen.
Homerton University Hospital applied for a Community Garden Grant to create a green hub for patients, staff and the community.
A number of our garden owners have generously shared their stories about the powerful effects that gardening can have in helping to manage Parkinson’s. We are hugely grateful to the team at Parkinson’s UK for helping to share these inspiring stories with a wider audience through the creation of some powerful and thought-provoking short films like this one filmed in Hampshire this summer.
A cancer diagnosis changed Lara Honnor’s life. Deciding that cancer had messed with the wrong girl she bought a puppy and turned to nature and horticulture and now opens two gardens for the National Garden Scheme, Skool Beanz Childrens’ Allotment and The Kitchen Garden in Martock Workspace both in Somerset.
It was while awaiting her post cancer surgery histology results at the NGS Macmillan Centre in Chesterfield that Maggie Porteous decided to open her garden in the Peak District for the National Garden Scheme.
National Garden Scheme funding of ABF The Soldiers’ Charity provides support to soldiers, veterans and their families through a variety of projects including promoting physical and mental wellbeing through the green environment, horticultural therapy and training.
Owned and designed by registered nutritionist Dr Trevor George, his Surrey garden is packed with edible plants – for growing, cooking, preserving, processing and researching what happens to our bodies when we eat them.
Dr John Butcher, teaching fellow in Neuroscience at Aston University and garden opener for the National Garden Scheme shares his expert view on the health benefits of gardens and gardening.
18 year-old Pia found support, solace and inspiration at Horatio’s Garden, a charity supported by the National Garden Scheme, after a spinal legion threatened to change her life.
Each year the National Garden Scheme celebrates all that’s good about gardens and encourages everyone to embrace the positivity of green spaces as part of our annual Gardens and Health Week. Open our interactive, Little Yellow Book of Gardens and Health and discover the benefits to your health and wellbeing – and to nature – that gardens, gardening and green spaces bring with stories told through our garden owners, beneficiaries and health experts.
Registered blind, Julie Scarle is opening her garden for the first time this year. She tells us what it’s like gardening with a sensory impairment.
The Growing Space Garden in Gwent is run by volunteers who gain a sense of community, happiness and pride through gardening. And on 2 July they open their gates to National Garden Scheme visitors.
This year, a collaboration between the National Garden Scheme, one of its beneficiaries Hospice UK, and a garden that opens for the scheme is set to create a sunflower filled summer sure to create a smile.
Inspired by his parents passion for gardening, John Edwards has been a keen gardener since childhood. Today, despite having to use a mobility scooter, he’s out in all weathers and this July opens for the National Garden Scheme.
The gloriously scented and colourful combination of lavender and roses are cornerstones of many English gardens. Revered for their fragrance, both plants have ancient origins and medicinal properties.
Royal Trinity Hospice is one of many that open their garden for the National Garden Scheme each year, sharing the peace and tranquility of their very special spaces. This lovely film illustrates the value that gardens can bring to everyone.
Our 2022 interactive, digital booklet The Little Yellow Book of Gardens and Health, is packed with stories and case studies from our Ambassadors, garden owners, garden visitors and beneficiaries illustrating just how good gardens are for your health.
The National Garden Scheme has been opening gardens to raise funds for nursing and health charities since 1927. More recently, as part of the Gardens And Health initiative, garden owners have hosted visits from service users and staff of those charities that benefit from annual donations.
Horatio’s Garden is one of the National Garden Scheme’s Gardens and Health beneficiaries. Supported since 2015 we have donated over £400,000 and this year the charity is celebrating its 10th Anniversary. Here’s their story.
One of our Gardens and Health beneficiaries is Maggie’s. Built alongside NHS hospitals, their centres are uplifting places – together we take a brief look at the rise and fall of gardens for health in history.
Award-winning garden designer, and National Garden Scheme garden opener, Selina Botham takes us through her philosophy of designing gardens for people as well as wildlife.
Maggie’s Chief Executive, Dame Laura Lee talks about why gardens are so important to their centres and the impact they have on people with cancer.
Find out more about the importance of gardens for patients, staff, volunteers, family and friends at Marie Curie hospices, some of which open for the National Garden Scheme.
Four garden owners with Parkinson’s, who open for the National Garden Scheme, attribute the physical act of gardening as an important part of managing their symptoms.
Macmillan’s cancer voices community share what gardens mean to them and how gardens, and gardening, have supported their wellbeing throughout their cancer experience.
We caught up with some of the plot holders at the Paddock Allotments ahead of their opening for the National Garden Scheme to find out more about what makes being a plot holder special.
Impressed by the care her mum received from Macmillan nurses, Jenny wanted to give something back and now raises money through opening her garden for the National Garden Scheme.
As part of our Gardens & Health Programme we offer free garden visits for the service users linked to our beneficiary charities. Offering a few hours respite in a beautiful garden with a cup of tea, piece of cake and good company really can help lift the spirits.
Japanese gardens lend themselves to the same positive health benefits that we experience by simply spending time in any natural environment. We know we feel good when we’re in a Japanese garden. But why? We discover the secrets of their design.
Referring patients to gardening projects is now a key part of Social Prescribing and one GP, Dr Richard Claxton, is a champion of Green Therapy linking patients with gardens and green spaces to help with a wide range of problems.
Garden designer, writer, presenter and National Garden Scheme Trustee, Arit Anderson, looks at the importance of sustainability in the way we live and garden. Discover more along with some top tips for gardening more sustainably too.
Before the pandemic, having a garden was associated with better health and wellbeing, with that in mind, here are five ways of using your garden that research suggests can improve your mental health.
Our report illustrates the vital role that gardens and outdoor spaces played – and continue to play – in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the nation during lockdown. The report confirms that the power of gardens to do good has never been more important.
Our special garden meditation helps you find peace, calm and a sense of wellbeing whether in your garden or home
As gardeners we can play our part in helping reverse the effects of climate change and the global decline in biodiversity
For over 40 years a village in Buckinghamshire has been opening its gardens for the National Garden Scheme, not only raising funds for our beneficiaries but providing wonderful health benefits for all involved
Inspired by her daughter’s writing and images of the places she had visited, Amanda Goode has created a garden as a testament to her daughter’s life
The National Garden Scheme is working in partnership with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) to promote a wider understanding of the importance of wetlands, water and wet spaces in nature and in our gardens for the health of the environment and our own well-being.
Daily fresh air is invaluable right now. The benefits of trees and woods on our mental and physical health are seemingly limitless – time spent in woodland is never wasted – and could even give you more than just a spring in your step
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