Experiences of gardening during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic

Jonathan Kingsley; Lucy Diekmann; Monika H Egerer; Brenda B Lin; Alessandro Ossola; Pauline Marsh

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102854

Experiences of gardening during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic

Health Place. 2022 Jul:76:102854. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102854. Epub 2022 Jun 30.

Authors

Jonathan Kingsley¹, Lucy Diekmann², Monika H Egerer³, Brenda B Lin⁴, Alessandro Ossola⁵, Pauline Marsh⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, 12 Wakefield Street (Swinburne Place West), Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122, Australia; Centre of Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology, Level 1 EW Building, Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122, Australia. Electronic address: jkingsley@swin.edu.au.
² University of California Cooperative Extension, 1553 Berger Dr., San Jose, CA, 95112, USA. Electronic address: lodiekmann@ucanr.edu.
³ Department of Life Science Systems, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Hans Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany. Electronic address: monika.egerer@tum.de.
⁴ CSIRO Land & Water, GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia. Electronic address: brenda.lin@csiro.au.
⁵ University of California, Davis, CA, USA; Macquarie University Sydney and University of Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: aossola@ucdavis.edu.
⁶ Centre for Rural Health, University of Tasmania, 1 Liverpool St, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia. Electronic address: Pauline.Marsh@utas.edu.au.

Abstract

Gardening has the potential to improve health and wellbeing, especially during crises. Using an international survey of gardeners (n = 3743), this study aimed to understand everyday gardening experiences, perspectives and attitudes during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Our qualitative reflexive thematic and sentiment analyses show that during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, gardening seemed to create a safe and positive space where people could socially connect, learn and be creative. Participants had more time to garden during the pandemic, which led to enhanced connections with family members and neighbours, and the ability to spend time in a safe outdoor environment. More time gardening allowed for innovative and new gardening practices that provided enjoyment for many participants. However, our research also highlighted barriers to gardening (e.g. lack of access to garden spaces and materials). Our results illustrate the multiple benefits of gardening apparent during COVID-19 through a lens of the social-ecological model of health.

Keywords: COVID-19; Garden; Qualitative research; Wellbeing.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Emotions
Gardening*
Gardens
Humans
Pandemics