Author(s): Dr. Anindita Gupta

Abstract:
Plants and greenery are beneficial for both our mental and physical health. Health of an individual not only depends on the social and the economic factors but also on the environmental factors. The area of green care is necessary for our holistic wellbeing. This kind of care involves exposure to plants and gardening as a therapy. Several researches have revealed that mental as well as psychological health can improve either by observing nature or by even observing images of it. By improving the surrounding of the patients their conditions can be improved. As proposed by Florence Nightingale, therapeutic gardening not only improves the psychological wellbeing of the patients but also of the therapists and the staffs. Gardens around prisons have a long history of improving the lives of the prisoners and offering training towards employment in the horticulture industry. People with disabilities, have also listed gardening as their hobby. Keeping this back drop in mind the paper will try to find out the positive impact of gardening on stress management therefore helping the health professionals to encourage people to make use of green space and to work in gardens, to make the local authorities increase open spaces and number of trees, thus also helping to counteract air pollution and climate change.