Defence Gardens
Nature Based Therapy for the Armed Forces Community
A national network of gardens which host the delivery and evaluation of nature-based therapy for Armed Forces Service Leavers and Veterans and their families.
Spring Programmes 2025
Defence Gardens
Armed Forces Day 2024
DGS was delighted that the RHS featured the Defence Gardens across the UK to show their support for Armed Forces Day
Making a Difference - Supporting Military Veterans through Horticultural Therapy
“It’s therapy without labels and we don’t do labels”
“The work of the Defence Gardens Scheme has completely transformed the efficacy of horticultural therapy in Northern Ireland. While horticultural therapy has been available in Northern Ireland from a small number of discrete charities, never before has the intervention been joined up in such a holistic and standardised way with veterans’ needs at the heart of it”
Veteran feedback from Woody’s Lodge, Wales Spring 2024
‘I enrolled because I was interested in being outdoors , but over time I’ve realised I enjoy it , I really enjoy it and want to do more. I have now planted a vegetable garden at home’.
Group response overwhelmingly fedback that the course was structured and ‘more than just gardening ‘ .
The Network
The Defence Gardens Scheme (DGS) works in partnership with veterans’ charities, military units, community mental health service providers and gardening projects to develop, deliver and evaluate nature-based therapy. The network is developing regionally on a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model of community-based mental health care.
Gardens delivering the DGS bespoke programme are now established in England in the SW, with The Eden Project in Cornwall; in Scotland DGS is based at the Linburn Walled Garden, Kirknewton, nr Edinburgh and at Woodys’ Lodge in Wales. In Northern Ireland, there are tow Hub Gardens at Colebrooke Park and Ashes to Gold and a growing range of Spoke Gardens including at Aldergrove fLying Station and the Somme Nursing Home.
All the Hub Gardens are contributing to the DGS independent evaluation project Transformational Nature Based Prescriptions ( TNP)
A bespoke holistic ten week programme
DGS is underpinned by research in the US and Denmark gathered during a Churchill Fellowship. The programme has been developed based on many years experience of military service and training, with the knowledge and skills of dedicated horticultural therapists, academics and passionate community leaders. It has then been refined with veteran input.
The outcome is a bespoke nature-based therapy programme for Service Leavers and Veterans - a structured, but flexible client-centred intervention. The 10 week programme delivers a blend of practical horticultural skills combined with support for managing mental health and wellbeing through mindfulness, reflection and journaling. Each session works towards a combination of physical, cognitive, emotional and social outcomes.
Research and evaluation is ongoing and embedded at each garden and for every programme. This approach enables fidelity of delivery across the network.
“Felt it was brilliant as it gave a sense of purpose and a place to go. It’s easy to get caught in a rut and by being in a safe place with people of a similar background (i.e. military), helped immensely as it is a great therapy to be outside and meet up with old comrades. Still keep in contact with most of the course and have continued to develop gardening skills and produce veg for the wider community”
