The Well Gardened Mind: Rediscovering Nature in the Modern World

Our June Book of the Month is not a new book, but a Scorpio staff favourite. An essential addition to any gardener’s bookshelf, it’s the perfect read to retreat into when the weather prevents us from going outside.

In The Well Gardened Mind, Sue Stuart-Smith explores why gardening can relieve stress and help us look after our mental health. What lies behind the restorative power of the natural world?

In a powerful combination of contemporary neuroscience, psychoanalysis and brilliant storytelling, The Well Gardened Mind investigates the magic that many gardeners have known for years - working with nature can radically transform our health, wellbeing and confidence.

Stuart-Smith beautifully describes how gardens can be so much more than a mere physical space – however cherished. She argues that the act of gardening provides a particular mental space too that “gives you quiet, so you can hear your thoughts”. When your hands are busy with the rhythms of planting or weeding or pruning, it’s astonishing how your mind is both calmed and freed up to sort out problems or process built-up feelings. So when you garden, you are also tending your inner world, giving your thoughts some breathing space as the unrelenting pace of modern life ever quickens.

With illuminating stories of how people struggling with stress, depression, trauma and addiction can change their lives, this inspiring and wise book of science, insight and anecdote - now translated into fifteen languages - shows how our understanding of nature and its restorative powers is only just beginning to flower.

“Gardeners will love to curl up with this beautifully written book in winter.”
Charlotte, Scorpio Books

“A thought-provoking, well-researched yet very readable book that confirms what most gardeners know instinctively.”
David, Scorpio Books