The Considerations To Make When Maintaining Outside Space For Emotional Wellbeing

Paul Bean, Nurture Landscapes Group Mental Health Awareness Week, organised by the Mental Health Foundation, runs each year from the 10th to 16th of May. This year’s theme of ‘Nature’ was particularly poignant with lockdown restrictions easing and people once again allowed to socialise at both indoor and outdoor locations.

The emotional wellbeing benefits of nature have been researched extensively over the years and, as Paul Bean from grounds maintenance specialist Nurture Landscapes Group explains, facilities managers need to keep these in mind all-year-round, especially as the world looks to recover from COVID-19.

Research commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation and the UK World Wildlife Fund (WWF-UK) published ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week found that 62% of people felt that taking a walk helped improve their mental wellbeing during the pandemic. Now that we are starting to look ahead to the post-COVID world, green spaces within cities and at building facilities will continue to provide areas of comfort. That, of course, means caring for these areas so that they can provide the respite people are looking for.



‘Caring’, in this context, includes small individual actions that each person can take in their day-to-day activities, such as taking litter home, to the more extensive grounds maintenance and deciding on the layout of the space itself. Choosing the right plants, flowers, and even the positioning of benches, are good first steps facilities managers can take in creating an area of calm for visitors to escape to.

Then, of course, there is the ongoing TLC which keeps the space looking at its best. Whether that is achieved through a regular programme of plant and grass care, or installing features and seating areas, a welcoming first impression is key in cultivating an area where people can not only get away from the daily grind, but also feel comfortable in talking with others.  

Facilities in urbanised areas in particular can see the benefits of opening up more natural spaces in these ways, especially as the various lockdown measures highlighted the need for improved access. According to figures from the Office of National Statistics, only 13% of residents across urban areas in England and the three most populous cities in Wales lived within a ten minute walk of a local park, and of those who did have good access, nearly a quarter (24%) suggested the park was at risk of becoming too overcrowded. Yet before the first lockdown in March 2020, 93% of respondents had visited a green space in the year leading up to movement restrictions being implemented.

Creative designs and maximising what outdoor space is available at an urbanised facility can help to overcome this hurdle. The use of living walls for example has been shown to bring a small piece of nature indoors, in those areas where having an outdoor break area simply isn’t feasible. What space is available can be maximised through the creation of an open area, with plant displays and seating, maintained regularly and providing an air of tranquillity against the hustle and bustle of the city outside.

To go even further, these ‘gardens’ may facilitate the return of staff to the facility and with stress and anxiety around Covid-19 still yet to fully subside, this could be just what is needed to alleviate at least part of these concerns.  

The message of taking care of the natural environment for our own emotional wellbeing is a key one for Mental Health Awareness Week this year, and something we at Nurture Landscapes take great pride in being able to facilitate. While we may not be experts in mental health, we do understand and appreciate how important it is for people to have a space where they can take some time to care for themselves.

And the signs that this will continue to be the case are there already, with offices looking to utilise outdoor meeting areas, such as the one we use ourselves at our head office in Surrey, and nature charities reporting greater interest in their respective activities, according to ONS data.

Before the virus outbreak, when long commutes and crowded urban areas were considered ‘the norm’, going for a walk to clear the mind or get some fresh air out of a busy office provided a welcome respite from the constant pressures of modern living. Covid-19 showed us just how important those five minutes out in the fresh air truly are.

As Mental Health Foundation’s Thriving in Nature report states, “nature is for everyone [and] it is essential that everyone can access nature whatever their circumstances”. To fulfil this vision, and ensure that the post-pandemic era has a strong focus on taking care of our own individual mental health needs, opening up natural spaces and maintaining them to create green oases in what can be an overwhelming world needs to be a priority, especially with nearly half of people in the UK noticing the increasing benefits of nature on their overall mental wellbeing.

Outside seating area with plants and trees