Gardens Overview

There are many different kinds of gardens and landscapes that facilitate health and well-being. Some are as small as a window box or few square feet of plants, and some are hundreds of acres.

The TLN’s primary focus is gardens in healthcare facilities – hospitals, hospices, clinics, nursing homes, and continuing care retirement communities. These places have been designed for a specific population, often with a specific purpose (such as encouraging seniors to get outside for exercise, sunlight, and fresh air; or allowing children to “blow off steam” during a hospital visit; or helping patients learn to use a wheelchair on outdoor surfaces before leaving the hospital). They are (or should be) designed using the most current research available. This is called evidence-based design, EBD.

These gardens are listed on the Healthcare Gardens page in alphabetical order by name of facility. We are also working on a map so that you can search for gardens geographically. In the meantime, you can use the search box at the top of any page for specific locations as well as any other keywords (such as “children’s” or “Alzheimer’s, “rooftop” or “atrium.”

Other Healing Landscapes: Our definition of healing landscapes, or what we often call Landscapes for Health, is broad: Any landscape, designed or wild, that facilitates human health and well-being.” Many gardens and other green spaces outside of healthcare facilities fit this broad definition.

Community gardens, memorials, gardens in prisons, and sensory gardens are just four of the myriad “other healing landscapes” that we have chosen to include on the Therapeutic Landscapes Network website because of their power to help people live happier, healthier, more meaningful lives. The information on these pages is not as extensive as on the Healthcare Gardens page because other organizations, such as the American Community Gardening Association, are devoted solely to providing information about that subject. With each of these pages, we provide an explanation about how and why these are Landscapes for Health and some key resources to help you explore this subject more.