I’m not into ‘trigger warnings’ and the suchlike, but this article is going to cover the challenging subject of mental health and its effect on gardeners.
It’s easy to shrug off mental health issues as being a sort of modern disease of the young, but consider this: our brains control our entire body, consciously and unconsciously, and we know how other parts of our bodies can have an effect on us as a whole being.
Mental health problems have always been around but it’s only recently that their impact have been openly discussed. In the past people suffering problems didn’t have our modern understanding so were condemned as ‘mad’ or ‘weak’. That lack of understanding meant there was a great deal of prejudice against those who suffered, and while the endless talk about mental health issues might seem overkill we can be glad that we live in a time when suffering is taken seriously.
Green Therapy
Gardening is increasingly regarded as a form of green therapy.
There’s an expanding body of evidence showing the benefit of time spent outdoors, either in nature or gardens. An hour spent being moderately active in the garden can give you the same sort of workout you would get at the gym, and you get a garden from it.
We’re told that gardening is great for your mental health
In our usually frantic world gardening is unusually binary. You see something that needs doing, you do it, the job is done; yes you will probably need to do it again in the not too distant future but that’s OK. Consider how much of our lives is spent doing, or thinking about, several things at once. Life gives us too few opportunities to stand back and say this is done now.
There are the advantages of having your hands in the soil, of touching plants and smelling their flowers, and eating the plants we’ve grown for food.
On The Other Side
It seems the benefits aren’t the the same for everyone. For those of us who choose horticulture as a career things can be unnervingly different. Stress is remarkably common in the world of professional horticulture, with physical pain and financial worries leading the list of causes and contributors.
Gardener Josh Taylor has been looking hard at some of the murkier parts of British professional horticulture and discussing things that some might be prefer to be kept hidden. It’s a brave thing to do; horticultural circles can be surprisingly tight-knit and people who rock the boat as it were aren’t always appreciated. Asking questions, especially when questions are accompanied with facts and statistics, forces individuals, companies and organisations to face up to problems they would be happier to ignore.
Look at the flowers, don’t ask awkward questions
We have a charity in the UK called Perennial that specialises solely in looking after professional horticulturists. Originally starting its life as The Gardeners’ Benevolent Institution, Perennial was founded in 1839 and has expanded its mission over what is alarmingly close to two centuries now. Given the culture of positivity around gardening it might well seem odd that there is a charity to support those who pursue careers in horticulture. The purpose of Perennial was put beautifully by Charles Dickens – yes, that Charles Dickens – in a speech he gave in 1852.
“His gains are not great; he knows gold and silver more as being the colours of fruit and flowers than by their presence in his pockets. He is subjected to that kind of labour which renders him peculiarly liable to infirmity and when old age comes upon him, the gardener is, of all men perhaps, best able to appreciate the benefits of the Institution.”
Charles Dickens
174 years later and there’s potent poetry to Dickens’ words but also a sadness that they still ring true today. Think of all the iconic gardens, nationally and internationally, that exist because they have been built and nurtured by passionate gardeners and growers, yet a career in horticulture is far from rewarding.
Two Worrying Statistics
In recent years Perennial has been conducting surveys of horticultural professionals in order to gauge where its resources need to be deployed. I can only imagine that the statistics have made sobering reading even at Perennial’s headquarters.
A rather worrying statistic released from Perennial’s 2021 survey said that 85% of respondents rated their mental health as below average or poor. In his own research Josh Taylor has found that, according to the Office For National Statistics (an official British government department that collects statistics about national life), the suicide rate for horticultural professionals is close to twice the national average.
Working with plants is supposed to be good for everyone, but that’s not true for professionals it seems
These statistics are very much at odds with the research telling us how good gardening is for us. If being out in the garden with plants is so good for you then those who do it as a career should be in the peak of mental health?
The problem is that there is a massive difference between gardening for fun and gardening as a career. Much comes down to the level of control. When you garden for the fun of it you manage your expectations; if it’s a wet spring and you don’t get all your tasks completed then the only person you’re likely to be accountable to is you yourself.
However professional gardeners are expected to achieve the best possible results come whatever happens. There’s often remarkably little tolerance for failure! It’s probably fair to say that most professionally gardened gardens are also running with fewer people than they really need, which exacerbates stress levels as gardeners are pushed more and more. If gardening is a medicine for the mind then maybe some of us have too high a dose.
Stress Factors
Professional gardeners have been cut back in number across the board, often replaced by volunteers who, thanks to socio-economic changes across society, are also dwindling in number. The work still needs doing and while some gardens are able/willing to be changed to suit reduced manpower this is far from universal, and the result is that gardeners are squeezed.
It’s not just gardeners that are having these problems; this year much of Britain has faced drought and high temperatures, and plant sales have dropped significantly. Nurseries carry stock with a finite shelf life and have struggled to sell as many plants as they need to. The running costs of nurseries remain the same while income, which is often focused on certain times of the year, drops like a stone.
For some nurseries it will be the end, and others will limp on. If nurseries have a second disastrous year in a row it will have a massive effect. This has implications for nursery owners and staff alike.
Bees aren’t the only ones busy on nurseries and in gardens!
Certainly as a freelance gardener I can tell you that the biggest source of stress comes from running the business rather than actually doing the gardening. Maybe 30% of my mental energy is spent on the work itself, the rest is spent on running the business, trying to meet expectations and generally keeping things going.
Gardening all day, every day, takes its toll. Most gardeners know the contented exhaustion after a nice long day in the garden, but after a while that fatigue and those aches and pains start to build up. According to the results of the 2025 wellness study by Perennial 59.6% of respondents reported ongoing back and joint pain, and we can be absolutely certain that ongoing physical problems are going to have an effect on mental health.
What Can Be Done?
There have been huge technological developments to aid gardeners in their work, and many modern approaches are arguably less physical than techniques that went before.
Many of horticulture’s problems stem from a lack of respect. In many places gardeners are just regarded as outdoor cleaners, keeping the garden looking tidy and nice. Outside professional circles there is seldom appreciation for the skills and abilities expected of modern horticulturists. This is exacerbated by the fact that for most people gardening is a hobby, so why should anything be different for career gardeners?
“…he knows gold and silver more as being the colours of fruit and flowers than by their presence in his pockets.”
The world of professional horticulture could do worse than to look at the perception of other trades, such as construction and catering. I can cook but I’m not a chef. I can do a few basics of DIY but I’m certainly not a builder. I have what it takes to be better at cooking and at DIY, as I’m sure we all do. Yet there is a great deal more respect for people who cook or make things professionally, while gardening is still regarded as a career for people who haven’t done well in life.
If all gardeners downed tools for a month, or even a fortnight, the effects will be seen quickly. Great gardening is invisible; when gardens look right we don’t give a second thought about the people who have made things happen. What looks like gardeners ambling around snipping here and digging there is actually an ongoing methodical process, and it’s important.
Great gardening is invisible when things are going well
The remuneration isn’t great. You certainly don’t get rich doing this job, unless you can branch out into other work or end up part of the circle of comparatively highly regarded gardeners endlessly featured in magazines. I get into trouble for saying that for every prominent head gardener like Great Dixter’s Fergus Garrett or Sissinghurst’s Troy Scott Smith there are dozens of gardeners with the potential to be similarly iconic, but whose employment situation prevents it. I’ve had the privilege of conversations with gardeners who have enormous insight and exciting ideas but whose employers, most likely motivated by in-house ideology and budget constraints, have no interest in making changes.
The world of professional horticulture needs to take itself seriously, to stop believing the general view that horticulturists of any and all levels are nothing but outdoor labourers. This means taking some of the limelight reserved for the designers and shining it on other parts of horticulture. We also need to accept that horticulture has problems and that we need to take more responsibility for ourselves and each other.
Everyone notices when things go wrong in the garden, whether it’s the gardener’s fault or an act of nature
Gardeners aren’t always the most people-centric. I indeed a lot of great gardeners are quite introverted and might come across as gruff. Yet despite the connection gardeners make with gardens the isolation that is so often part of life as a gardener, or running your own nursery for that matter, isn’t great for us. Something as simple as a message to check in with someone can be the little gesture that makes a difference. If something is happening and you know someone isn’t keen on going out, don’t stop inviting them just because they don’t come. It’s easy to lose track of people and for people to fall away.
There’s a big campaign in the construction industry about mental health; I suggest that horticulture has its own. There’s an ongoing campaign recruiting new people into horticulture but there are also clearly issues that need to be addressed, to make the whole of horticulture better for everyone.
Well written Ben and unfortunately all too true. Professionals be they gardener or horticulturalist are not given the respect they are due. Their futures also rely on the economics at the time too. In our short season professionally trained gardeners have to resort to clearing snow from driveways and sidewalks to stay employed over the long off season. It’s a tough go to make a decent living.
This is very true. Gardeners are often axed to bolster the finances of ailing charities, companies and organisations, with the remaining gardeners expected to keep the place going with fewer resources and the same income. In the UK freelance gardeners in some areas will work seven day weeks for several months then take time off in winter (earning nothing), or spend their time delivering logs on behalf of tree surgeons. That combination of fatigue and seasonal uncertainty isn’t good.
Well said Ben.
Thank you.
Important topic. Maybe the isolation factor? Gardener toiling solitarily, with only buzzing insects and chattering squirrels for company? Is there more competition in the profession these days, as people enter the field to do work they love? But overall it does seem that most everyone’s mental health is shot these days. At least in the U.S.!
Isolation is definitely a factor, even more so for people who live and work alone. Unless you’re working for a large team you’re going to spend hours on your own every day. Indeed it’s common to see “work well in a team but also on your own” on job descriptions.
Definitely food for thought. Thank you, Ben. I wondered while reading though, “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” Meaning, does a career as a gardener actually increase the likelihood of mental health issues or are those more sensitive in nature and attuned to their surroundings 1. more prone to mental health issues and 2. more likely to become gardeners? Gardeners tend to be observers, nurturers, carers. These qualities, marvelous as they are and hallelujah, can lead to burnout and exhaustion and fragile mental health. Always tending to another – whether plant or person – and less to one’s self, is not sustainable long term and eventually takes its toll, physically and mentally. I do appreciate that the job of a professional gardener is stressful and you gave many great examples, but aren’t many other jobs equally stressful? Doesn’t it seem everyone is stressed out these days? I too have picked up on the buzz between gardening and improved mental health. But I must ask, are gardeners by their nature more aware of and attune to their mental health?
When it comes to the more committed of horticulture there is often a type of person who finds their place.
Indeed there will be some who come to professional horticulture specifically looking for a refuge from the stresses of other parts of life. This is why there needs to be a conversation around this subject; if gardening for pleasure has benefits while gardening professionally doesn’t then it’s important that those seeking a career less abrasive to their mental health avoid professional horticulture!
Great Ben. I think about this every time gardening for health is a topic. So glad people are finally beginning to research the health of professionals.
The fetishization of gardening harms the industry more than it helps. Both in the glorification of the subject, and the infantilisation/ condescension of those working in the industry.
Thanks for a great read!
That’s the thing isn’t it; the popular view is that gardening as a job must be as fun as gardening for pleasure. It can be but often isn’t, but I wonder if the idea is so ingrained that we start to believe it ourselves?
Possibly. Though I believe it less the older I get
It can also feel difficult to complain (outside of the crib room), or ask for help. Because we’re so lucky to work in horticulture.
Then again, we also have a large proportion of people who career change into horticulture and speak of the horrors and darkness in other industries. Maybe it is great and we are fine.
I absolutely disagree with the idea that just because other industries have problems that we don’t need to look at issues within the industry. We should make horticulture a career for all.
Definitely!
The ‘it could be worse ‘ is a nonsense argument.
Well said, Ben. Professional gardening can be everything you said. There is research that shows the physical toll on professional gardeners, but I’ve not seen anything on the mental toll. Perhaps with the report you mention, and more advocacy, research can be done. I wonder if Josh could get in touch with Dr. Sue Stuart-Smith to see if this would be something she could consult on. John Little has been working on pay and training issues. Change is slow, but maybe there is something that can be done to support the professionals. Has always annoyed me that, in many cases, the cleaning lady gets paid more than the experienced gardener.
I would be surprised if Dr Stuart Smith weighed in on this, simply for the reason that it might harm her income as an advocate for ‘green therapies’. Last year I did some unskilled labouring work for a building contractor last year when things were quiet; I got paid nearly £100 a day more than I get as a skilled gardener!
Here in the southern US if you , in conversation, ask anyone “do you have a garden?” The majority of answers will be yes or no I don’t VEGETABLE GARDEN. There seems to be no relatable feelings that a garden is a place of beautifully designed spaces in which one finds peace, comfort, mind clearing outside the four walls of their interiors and that it takes highly trained and intuitive gardener/horticulturists to create and maintain such places.,So much to talk about and unpack.
Gardening can be food for the body or food for the soul, and in both cases a lot goes into it for success. It’s a big subject that would be easier to ignore, but sometimes the prevailing narrative isn’t quite right.
Is it like the difference between being a home cook and a professional chef? One is a gratifying pastime that many people enjoy, the other a highly stressful vocation that few could handle.
I would hope that most people understand the difference between doing something as a hobby and doing it as a career. There are all kinds of things that are great for you as “therapy”: gardening, art, writing, knitting, etc. but I think most intelligent people understand that turning those activities into a career is a whole different ball of wax. I love surfing around on Zillow, but I’m pretty sure I would hate being a real estate agent or flipping houses for a living.
Yes, exactly.
The problem is that I don’t think, at least when it comes to horticulture, that there is that understanding that doing certain things as a career is different to doing them as a pastime. I think too many talented people go into something focusing on the bits they’re good at and enjoy, with little appreciation for what comes from doing it as a source of income.
…”there are also clearly issues that need to be addressed, to make the whole of horticulture better for everyone.” How do we do that? and those ‘issues” need to be made clearer… thanks, Ben
First step is to find out what the issues are and how they affect different people within horticulture. This could be done via a survey and would be a matter of crunching numbers.
Then it’s a matter of looking at the identified issues line by line and making a conscious effort to address them. Not an hour’s discussion by a speaking panel as part of a conference or symposium, but actually long and arduous industry-wide discussion. I suspect that a lot of issues, such as poor pay and lack of appreciation, will come back to a lack of respect for horticulture, so it might be that addressing that would help several things.
But first of all there must be an acceptance that there are problems, and a respect for everyone, from within horticulture itself. This means putting aside professional differences and actually wanting the best for everyone, and I fear this will be the hardest hurdle of them all.
Poignant and well argued. Designers could really help by calling out these issues and putting some money behind the charity you mentioned or others.
Not even money; designers have ended up/put themselves at the top of horticulture and have the ability to lead the way on changes for those further down. Occasionally some big-name designers will champion a gardener, but it seems to be very much as a carefully orchestrated thing. I’ve certainly never come across any examples of situations where a designer has made the case for gardeners to be allowed more control and influence over a project.
And of course being constantly put down in favour of designers isn’t exactly nice for the rest of horticulture.
Well said, Ben, including this last comment.
You make a great point, and I think this happens in most industries. If there is physical labor involved, even if it is skilled labor, it is usually considered blue-collar work vs the more “cerebral” work of architects, engineers, designers, etc. To be fair, there is usually more education required to become an architect or designer, so maybe it isn’t surprising that they enjoy better salaries and higher social status. I agree it would be frustrating to be the gardener or craftsman whose work is not as well compensated; I’m just not sure how that could ever change.