Gardening Promotes Neuroendocrine and Affective Restoration from Stress

Urban Farm DB summary

A field experiment with 30 allotment gardeners tested the stress-relieving effects of gardening. Participants performed a stressful Stroop task and were then randomly assigned to 30 minutes of outdoor gardening or indoor reading. Salivary cortisol levels and self-reported mood were repeatedly measured. Both gardening and reading led to decreases in cortisol during the recovery period, but the decreases were significantly stronger in the gardening group. Positive mood was fully restored after gardening, while it further deteriorated during reading.