Gardening and the Aesthetic Value of Nature

What’s the value of having beauty in one’s surroundings? Is having a beautiful garden (even one that provides no food) just a pleasant pastime that provides something nice to look at, or is it actually beneficial in other, measurable ways?

At least one university study has shown that the greener the surroundings, the lower the chance of crime.

And perhaps there is other inherent value in families having their own gardens whenever possible (again even if not growing any food crops). It seems to me that nurturing plants and watching them grow brings a person to a closer and greater appreciation for the natural world in general. After all, just knowing something about a subject can often increase one’s interest in it, and concern regarding it.

For example, when I first moved to a piece of land with lots of native vegetation growing on it, I liked the idea of having some seclusion and privacy, but knew very little about most of the plants that were growing there. In fact, they pretty much looked alike to me, blending into one greenish mass of vegetation. But when my polymath friend Marty Pickard came over and showed me how to recognize the differences between the many species of trees, bushes and other plants growing at my place, I gained a whole new appreciation for them.

All of a sudden, I was no longer surrounded by a single mass of greenery, but instead by individuals of a score of different species. And after that, I never looked at plants the same way again. I gained an intimacy and understanding of plants that I had never dreamed I would possess, or even want to. Whereas before, animals, with their movements and antics, were always of more interest to me, now I could discern if individuals of a particular species of plant were increasing or decreasing in number, flourishing or languishing. And I became just as interested in the plants on my land as I was in the animals, and have since planted many, many more.

So, for me at least, there seems to be definite value in one’s yard (if you’re lucky enough to have one) containing more of nature than just the typical, manicured lawn (which is an extremely un-natural, human contrivance). Whether you indulge in gardening or just keep part of your property in an un-manicured state and then observe what goes on there, you’re bound to learn a little about nature, and perhaps develop a slightly “greener” outlook toward things.

And according to Roger S. Ulrich at the Center for Health Systems and Design, Colleges of Architecture and Medicine, Texas A & M University, a number of studies have now shown that “simply viewing certain types of nature and garden scenes significantly ameliorates stress within only five minutes or less”. Perhaps amazingly, just having a garden at a hospital (or even plants in the lobbies) can be a stress reducer for patients, families and healthcare workers.

At the very least, just stepping outside into a garden filled with the sounds of birds’ songs has to be preferable to hearing only the normal sounds of human activity – gas-powered lawnmowers and “weed eaters,” sirens, cars and trucks, and the like.

Most everyone can appreciate nature’s beauty, at least on some level. Indeed, the very concept of a “paradise” in the Christian, Moslem, Jewish and many other religious traditions is that of a garden, like the Garden of Eden. And the Ancient Greek root of the word for paradise is paradeisos, one of whose meanings was “garden.”

Indeed, the human bond to the natural world is nothing new, and can hardly be denied.

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