Prescribed Gardening: How Nature Can Aid Eating Disorder Recovery and Mental Health
Exploring the Healing Potential of Soil, Seasons, and Self-Connection
In eating disorder treatment, we often focus on therapy, nutrition, and medical care — and rightly so. But alongside these clinical pillars, a growing body of research supports the therapeutic role of nature-based practices, including gardening, in promoting emotional regulation, body reconnection, and mental health recovery.
Gardening is more than a hobby. It can be a gentle, grounding, sensory-rich experience that supports healing from eating disorders in ways that traditional treatments cannot always reach. Whether it’s planting herbs on a balcony, working in a community plot, or simply repotting houseplants, interacting with nature through gardening can be a meaningful tool in the recovery process.
The Psychological Benefits of Gardening
Horticultural therapy — the use of gardening in therapeutic contexts — has been recognized as an effective adjunct to treatment for a wide range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and eating disorders.
Emotional Regulation and Stress Reduction
Gardening supports parasympathetic nervous system activity, helping regulate the body's stress response. Studies have shown that even brief exposure to gardening can lead to:
Reduced cortisol levels
Improved mood and affect
Decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression
Enhanced sense of calm and focus
In a randomized controlled trial, participants who engaged in gardening reported significantly reduced levels of anxiety and depression compared to those who participated in indoor reading activities (Van Den Berg & Custers, 2011).
Mindfulness and Sensory Integration
Eating disorders often involve dissociation from the body or sensory overwhelm. Gardening naturally invites present-moment awareness through:
Feeling soil in your hands
Watching something grow over time
Tuning into weather patterns, textures, and seasonal changes
This kind of mindful sensory engagement can help individuals with eating disorders re-establish a more attuned and less critical relationship with their bodies and environments (Zick et al., 2013).
How Gardening Supports Eating Disorder Recovery
While gardening is not a substitute for therapy or medical care, it can be a powerful adjunct that promotes healing in the following ways:
1. Reconnection to the Body Through Function and Feeling
Gardening focuses on what the body can do, rather than how it looks. Digging, lifting, bending, planting, and walking offer gentle movement with purpose — often without triggering appearance-focused thoughts. For those recovering from movement compulsions, gardening provides low-impact, non-performative physical activity that supports embodiment and rest.
2. Developing Patience, Tolerance, and Self-Compassion
Eating disorder recovery requires tolerating discomfort, uncertainty, and imperfection — skills that are often mirrored in the garden. Seeds do not sprout overnight. Plants need trial and error. Some things die and get replanted. Gardening reinforces the message that growth takes time, mistakes are part of the process, and nothing thrives in perfectionism.
3. Symbolic Healing and Recovery Narratives
Many people in recovery find symbolism in the act of tending to something living. Watching plants respond to care, sunlight, and nourishment can parallel the emotional and physical healing process.
Weeds are like negative thoughts: they can be managed but not always eliminated.
Soil represents a foundation — sometimes messy, but capable of holding growth.
Seasonal cycles remind us that periods of dormancy are not failure, but part of the process.
Gardening can offer a sense of agency, a visual reminder of progress, and a non-verbal language for healing.
4. Food Reconnection Without Pressure
In later stages of recovery, gardening can gently support a reconnection to food — especially when growing fruits, vegetables, or herbs. For individuals with food fears, ARFID, or trauma around eating, participating in the life cycle of a food item can build familiarity, curiosity, and safety.
Important note: Any food-based gardening should be introduced with caution and professional support, particularly for individuals in early-stage recovery or with active food-related anxiety.
Community, Routine, and Responsibility
Gardening can also support recovery by providing structure, routine, and even social engagement — all of which are essential to long-term healing.
Watering schedules can create consistency in daily life.
Volunteering at a community garden can decrease isolation.
Being responsible for a living thing fosters a sense of purpose and worth.
These benefits are especially meaningful for individuals rebuilding identity and community post-treatment.
Clinical Applications: Gardening in Eating Disorder Treatment
Some eating disorder programs have begun integrating gardening and horticultural therapy into their treatment models. Benefits reported include:
Reduced mealtime-related anxiety
Improved emotion regulation between sessions
Increased compliance with therapeutic goals
Enhanced self-efficacy and environmental mastery
Programs that integrate ecotherapy, nature-based occupational therapy, or trauma-informed gardening practices show promising outcomes, particularly in adolescents and young adults (Summers & Vivian, 2018).
Practical Ways to Begin
You don’t need a garden or green thumb to benefit. Try:
Growing herbs on a windowsill
Tending to houseplants with daily watering or repotting
Joining a local community garden
Visiting a botanical garden with mindful awareness
Volunteering with local urban gardening programs
Using gardening metaphors in your journal or therapy
Even five minutes with soil, leaves, or sunlight can ground you in the present and remind you that you are growing too.
Final Thought
Gardening invites us to slow down, reconnect, and care for something — including ourselves. In a culture that often prioritizes productivity and perfection, it reminds us that healing is nonlinear, seasonal, and worthy of patience.
For individuals in eating disorder recovery, gardening can be more than a hobby — it can become a living metaphor for healing, a sensory tool for regulation, and a quiet but profound affirmation that growth is always possible.
References
Van Den Berg, A. E., & Custers, M. H. (2011). Gardening promotes neuroendocrine and affective restoration from stress. Journal of Health Psychology, 16(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105310365577
Zick, C. D., et al. (2013). Harvesting more than vegetables: The potential weight control benefits of community gardening. American Journal of Public Health, 103(6), 1110–1115.
Summers, J. K., & Vivian, D. N. (2018). Exploring the therapeutic effects of gardening for individuals with mental health challenges. Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture, 28(2), 10–19.
Jordan, M., & Hinds, J. (2016). Ecotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1989). The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Cambridge University Press.
