The amount of research about therapeutic landscapes can be overwhelming. Where does one start? How do you choose what to read, among all that’s available? It depends partly on what you’re looking for.
To help get you started, we’re creating some lists of recommended books and articles. We are still building this list, so please check back soon to see more recommendations. Or better yet, sign up for our newsletter so we can tell you about updates.
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WHERE TO START
If you're new to this field and don't know where to begin, these four books
are a good place to start. All four are fairly academic and offer serious scholarship about landscapes that faciliate health and well-being. The first two on the list also offer some excellent historical background on the subject.
Cooper Marcus, Clare and Marni Barnes, Eds. (1999). Healing Gardens: Therapeutic Benefits and Design Recommendations. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
Received the 2000 EDRA/Places "Place Research" Award; see Bressi, Todd in References.
Gerlach-Spriggs, Nancy, Richard Enoch Kaufman and Sam Bass Warner, Jr. (1998). Restorative Gardens: The Healing Landscape. New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press.
Tyson, Martha M. (1998 and 2008). The Healing Landscape: Therapeutic Outdoor Environments. Originally published by New York: McGraw-Hill; re-published 2008 by Madison, WI: Parallel Press.
Go to Martha Tyson's website to order the book.
Malkin, Jain (2008). A Visual Reference for Evidence-Based Design. The Center for Health Design.
This book focuses more on indoor healthcare environments but is a must-read for anyone interested in Evidence-Based Design (EBD).
FOR INSPIRATION
In December of 2009, the TLN Blog published the post "Top Ten Gift Books for Healing Garden Inspiration." These ten books are sure to inspire you to create spaces that are truly nurturing to body and soul. This list is excerpted from that post, which you can also read in full (as well as access links to each of the books).
Brunton, Laurie and Erin Fournier. Sanctuary: Gardening for the Soul
This book is all about nature and gardens as sanctuary, and how to find and create sanctuary in your life. I have to say, though I love all of my book-children equally, there's something particularly inspiring about this one. Perhaps because it's more than just a garden how-to book, or perhaps because the photos are just so darn scrumptious. As another indication that this is something special, here are the chapter titles: Peace; Change; Passion; Mystery; and Contemplation. It's one of the few books, along with Derek Jarman's Garden (below) that calls attention to and embraces death as a part of the garden's cycle. There's also a nice section on labyrinths at the end of the book.
Dannenmaier, Molly. A Child's Garden: 60 Ideas to Make Any Garden Come Alive for Children
Wonderful ideas for creating and embellishing spaces that nurture young people. A must-have if you've got kids or clients with kids. Or just for the kid in you.
Donaldson, Stephanie. Peaceful Gardens: Transform Your Garden into a Haven of Calm and Tranquillity
A very sweet little book (it really is little, measuring 5.5 x 6.5") with hundreds of beautiful photographs and great ideas. I like the mixture of garden styles in this book - everything from traditional cottage-type gardens to wild meadows to very modern, spare, contemplative spaces.
Jarman, Derek. Derek Jarman's Garden
It's funny how many of the above-listed books refer to Derek Jarman's garden and have at least one picture of it from this book. It's one of my personal favorites, too. Not your garden-variety garden book, but truly beautiful, inspiring. and life-affirming.
Minter, Sue. The Healing Garden: A Natural Haven for Body, Senses and Spirit
This was one of my first "healing gardens" books. I really like Minter's first chapter, "The Healing Arts: A marriage of botany and medicine" for its overview of the history of healing gardens and the therapeutic use of plants and nature. In general, her scope is broad, touching on a lot of aspects of healing gardens, from herbs and organic vegetables to Feng Shui and color theory. A delightful buffet for those who like a little bit of everything. There's another book by Sue Minter called The Healing Garden: A Practical Guide for Physical & Emotional Well-Being. I'm not sure how it differs from the one above, and I'm sorry to say I don't have it...yet.
Search, Gay. The Healing Garden: Gardening for the Mind, Body and Soul
After a short overview, Search delves into more detail with herbs, both culinary and medicinal; flowers, especially as used for color and scent; water in the garden; and low-allergen gardens. She includes some good plant lists and suggestions for each category, and even a few garden plans.
Rawlings, Romy. Healing Gardens
I'd say that "holistic gardening" is the main thrust of this book - that to create a garden that is healing for us, we must create a healthy garden. In other words, be good to the earth and she will reward you. After an overview of this concept, Rawlings focuses on the following topics: Feng Shui (a whole chapter, looking at the various schools); color therapy; herbalism, with both culinary and medicinal herbs; aromatherapy; and styles of gardens, including meditation and Zen.
Squire, David. The Healing Garden: Natural Healing for the Mind, Body and Soul
Squire, too, starts with a nice chapter that gives some historical perspective, including the Garden of Eden, Islamic gardens, monastery gardens, and tea gardens. His next chapter is something of a surprise: "Does Soil Have a Soul?" He's got a good point here, which is that everything comes from the soil, so that had better be healthy first. I appreciate this, since nothing is more depressing - and less nurturing - than a garden that doesn't thrive. After that, each chapter is devoted to one of the five senses: touch; scent; taste; sound; taste; and sight - color, patterns, shapes, and textures.
Streep, Peg. Spiritual Gardening: Creating Sacred Space Outdoors
This book, more than any of the others, is about creating sacred space and a place where you connect with your spirit, or soul, though nature. Streep touches on myriad different spiritual gardens, including Zen, Gaia, Celtic, and Biblical, and several different methods of connecting with nature including aromatherapy, Feng Shui, and labyrinths. For those who are more spiritual or even religious, this book more than the other ten will speak to you. But even if you're not, it's a good pithy read with lots of great pictures and quotes.
Woods, Pamela. Gardens for the Soul: Designing Outdoor Spaces Using Ancient Symbols, Healing Plants and Feng Shui
This book (not surprising, given the title) delves a little more into the spiritual. Woods, who is a dowser as well as an artist and landscape designer, begins with a chapter on garden energy. The next chapter focuses on ancient symbols like labyrinths, medicine wheels, mandalas, and spirals. Woods also talks about how using universal patterns can make us feel more connected to nature the earth.
