NHS Wellbeing Gardens
About the project:
🌿 NHS Wellbeing Gardens
Bringing nature into healthcare spaces
The NHS Wellbeing Gardens are part of a national initiative where each garden is co-designed with staff, patients and local communities, ensuring the spaces meet the real needs of those who use them. The aim is to create restorative outdoor settings that promote relaxation, connection, and wellbeing for everyone who spends time in them.
Built on the principle of ‘right plant, right place’, each garden responds sensitively to its local soil, climate and community, making them both sustainable and enduring.
Dave Green was invited to design four of the NHS Wellbeing Gardens, each tailored to its setting while sharing a common goal — to bring nature closer to everyday healthcare.
💚 Together, these gardens show how thoughtful design can enhance healthcare environments — helping people feel calmer, more connected and supported through the simple power of nature.💚
🌱 Woking Community Hospital Garden
Providing patients with a space to receive treatment outdoors
At Woking Community Hospital in Surrey, an uninviting courtyard has been transformed into a therapeutic outdoor treatment area.
Wide, level paths allow patients in hospital beds and wheelchairs to experience fresh air and the calming influence of planting. The space supports outdoor occupational therapy sessions and provides a restorative environment for long-term care patients recovering from strokes and head injuries.
Seasonal, sensory planting and accessible design combine to create a calm and uplifting setting that aids both physical and emotional recovery.
🌿 Halstead Hospital Wellbeing Garden
Meeting the practical, social and emotional needs of patients and staff
In Essex’s driest county, the Halstead Hospital Wellbeing Garden is designed with drought-tolerant planting and raised beds to make gardening accessible for everyone.
The space supports social prescribing and offers areas for relaxation, conversation and light activity. Patients, staff and volunteers were involved throughout the design process, ensuring the garden responds to local needs and conditions.
Its calm layout, gentle colour palette and tactile planting create a welcoming sanctuary that nurtures connection and care within the hospital community.
🌼 Jarvis Breast Screening Centre Wellbeing Garden
A “space to breathe” for NHS staff
At the Jarvis Breast Screening Centre in Guildford, the wellbeing garden offers staff and visitors a much-needed retreat from the pressures of a busy clinical environment.
Designed in consultation with NHS teams, the garden includes wheelchair-accessible paths, low-maintenance planting, and quiet zones for reflection and prayer.
A series of creative workshops and nature-based activities encourage staff to take time out for relaxation and reconnection. The result is a simple, sustainable and restorative garden that brings balance and breathing space to the workplace.
🌾 Walkden Clinic Wellbeing Garden
Transforming unused land into a thriving sanctuary
At Walkden Clinic in Greater Manchester, an unused patch of grass has been transformed into a dynamic, multipurpose garden for both staff and patients.
The design incorporates a looped pathway suitable for outdoor physiotherapy sessions, along with seating areas and planting selected to thrive in Manchester’s wetter climate.
Biodiverse, pollinator-friendly planting brings colour and life throughout the seasons, while community workshops such as bird-watching, herbal tea making and mindfulness support ongoing engagement.
This once-forgotten corner is now a living, breathing space for wellbeing, connection and biodiversity.
