‘Designing a wellbeing garden’ a systematic review of design recommendations

Abstract

Evidence demonstrates the benefits of gardens for promoting wellbeing. Some gardens are now being designed specifically to promote wellbeing; however, there are currently no evi- dence-based guidelines or recommendations available for designers to support such endeavours. The present study undertakes a systematic review of garden design literature to: (1) identify the defining characteristics of a garden that pro- motes wellbeing in non-clinical populations; and (2) summarize existing evaluations of garden designs into recommendations that can promote wellbeing. Online databases were used to identify papers published before October 2022, from which 17 publications were reviewed. This review was conducted follow- ing PRISMA and framework for scoping reviews. Results: The defining characteristics of wellbeing gardens centred around six design aspects: accessibility, wayfinding, fostering serenity, multisensory planting, spatial organization, and cultural arte- facts. From these, recommendations were developed for garden designers to create wellbeing gardens.