Digging deeper: Gardening as a way to develop non-human relationships through connection with Nature

Gardening as a leisure activity provides an often overlooked opportunity to examine the relationship between individuals and nature. Gardening offers a unique insight into the role that interaction with nature may play in wellbeing and in particular in instances of isolation and loneliness. The global lockdown created by the Covid-19 pandemic saw those households with private gardens being largely restricted to those spaces for both physical activity and mental respite, with many discovering this multifaceted role of gardens for perhaps the first time. This study reports on data collected prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and explores how gardeners experience much more from garden spaces than is often thought. As such it seems timely to examine how wellbeing may be enhanced and developed through interaction with nature in the context of urban gardens. The study reported here included semi-structured interviews with 25 gardeners to explore their gardening experiences. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that in the context of gardening, a meaningful relationship between gardener and garden was supported and developed through key themes of: Contribution, Connection, Awareness, and Being Self, with An-Other (that being the garden). This study thus suggests that gardening could be seen to provide a place and activity in which meaningful connections could be made outside of relationships with other humans. This has important wellbeing implications for those who may find it difficult to interact with others, are at risk of isolation and loneliness or may be in an unprecedented situation in which enforced isolation occurs.