Nature-Based Mental Health Treatment: Horticultural Therapy for Anxiety & Depression
Mental health issues now affect nearly one in five teens in the U.S.¹ Many of them try talk therapy, sometimes to find it doesn’t fully reach the part of them that feels stuck. This is where nature-based approaches can step in.
Gardening for anxiety relief or depression is not a replacement for therapy, but can offer a different kind of help. Nature-based mental health treatment gives a complementary path that’s grounded, sensory, and stress-relieving.
Horticultural therapy, for example, uses gardening as a therapeutic tool. But it’s not just about pulling weeds or potting flowers. It’s about giving teens a way to work through emotions by doing something physical – something sensory. There’s growing evidence that simply being around plants and carrying out tasks like watering, touching soil, and watching growth can reduce negative thought spirals and improve focus.² These effects can be powerful for teens facing anxiety or depression.
Gardening also helps calm the nervous system and supports emotional balance.³ It offers a way for teens to connect to life in a quieter, slower way. This connection, especially when it doesn’t rely on words, is sometimes exactly what they need.
This guide explores the following aspects of horticultural therapy for teens:
- What horticultural therapy for teens is
- Types of activities involved in horticultural therapy
- How gardening helps anxiety and depression in teens
- Types of teen nature healing programs
- How Mission Prep can help with teen nature healing programs
What Is Horticultural Therapy?
Horticultural therapy blends structured gardening with psychological insight, offering more than fresh air or a change of scenery. It’s an evidence-informed method of using plant care and garden environments to support emotional healing, especially in teens facing anxiety, depression, or stress-related conditions.
Horticultural therapy is grounded in biophilia theory, which suggests humans are biologically wired to seek connection with nature. Unlike recreational gardening, horticultural therapy follows a clear therapeutic framework. Sessions are guided by trained facilitators who choose specific mental health gardening activities based on a teen’s needs. This might be planting from seed to build patience, pruning to manage frustration, or simply sitting in a sensory-rich space to calm the nervous system.
Horticultural and mental health gardening activities may include:
- Seed planting and propagation: Fostering patience, routine, and a sense of long-term investment in growth
- Soil-based mindfulness: Using touch and scent to ground emotions, reducing overstimulation and anxiety
- Herb gardening: Calming plants like mint and lavender are grown and used in self-soothing rituals like tea or sachet-making
- Composting and garden cleanup: Encouraging transformation of “waste” into nourishment, paralleling emotional processing
- Nature journaling: Journaling in nature supports emotional insight by tracking plant changes alongside personal reflections
- Watering routines: Building responsibility, predictability, and a sense of purpose
- Sensory garden exploration: Exploring through the senses to engage sight, scent, touch, and sound to anchor teens in the present
- Raised bed or container gardening: Gardening at home doesn’t require a lot of space, so containers make it more accessible for smaller or indoor spaces
- Harvesting and preparing food: Reinforcing nourishment and self-worth through the act of receiving care for items grown
- Designing or decorating garden spaces: Offering creative expression and personalization, which can be especially helpful in group settings
How Gardening Helps Anxiety and Depression in Teens
Teens facing chronic anxiety or depression often live in a state of nervous system dysregulation.⁴ Their bodies may be flooded with cortisol, their minds overwhelmed by racing thoughts, or their energy levels flattened by emotional fatigue. Gardening offers a unique path to recovery that works through a combination of behavior and biology.
Emerging research shows that nature-based activities can help rebalance the autonomic nervous system.⁵ In other words, when teens garden, they can gently reach a state of calm through breath, movement, and tactile contact. Their bodies shift out of “fight or flight” and into a parasympathetic state, where rest, digestion, and healing can take place.
Beyond nervous system regulation, plant care also affects the brain’s reward and motivation circuitry. Repetitive, hands-on tasks like digging or pruning activate the prefrontal cortex and boost dopamine, a neurotransmitter that supports attention, pleasure, and goal-setting – and is often depleted in teens with depression.⁶ In fact, just 20 minutes of outdoor activity has been shown to lower cortisol levels and rumination, as well as increase mood stability.⁷
Gardening can also be especially healing for trauma. For many teens, especially those with complex emotional histories, traditional therapy can feel confrontational. Gardening offers an alternative approach as it’s non-verbal, sensory-rich, and symbolically safe.
Types of Teen Nature Healing Programs
Horticultural therapy is adaptable. Some teens benefit from structured sessions at residential treatment centers, while others thrive with hands-on activities in school gardens or even at home. Whether guided by a licensed therapist or supported by a mentor, these programs use nature intentionally to ease symptoms of anxiety and depression. The setting can be flexible, but the goals of regulation, reflection, and reconnection remain the same.
There are several types of teen nature healing programs, including:
Home-Based Therapeutic Gardening
Some teens aren’t ready for group gardening settings early in recovery. But caring for a few potted herbs on a windowsill or planting lettuce in a raised bed outside can still offer therapeutic value. It’s quiet, private, and can be done on their own time. Many teens naturally pair this kind of gardening with journaling – writing down what’s growing, what’s not, and how they’re feeling. Even small interactions with plants have been shown to reduce stress responses in the body. And when those moments are reflected on, a shift can happen.⁸ Teens start to notice patterns in their mood, building awareness without needing to explain it to anyone else.
Group Gardening Activities
Research shows that collaborative horticultural therapy can significantly reduce loneliness and increase prosocial behavior among youth with mood disorders.⁹ There’s something disarming about working quietly alongside someone, hands in the soil, pulling weeds or digging holes. In group gardening settings, whether at school or in a residential program, this kind of side-by-side rhythm builds connection without forcing it. Shared tasks turn into shared wins. Teens learn how to rely on each other, offer help, accept it in return, and sometimes just coexist peacefully.
These aren’t just feel-good moments. They’re small but steady shifts in how teens relate to others – and to themselves.
Therapeutic Gardens in Clinical Settings
Studies show that access to green spaces supports brain development in children and adolescents.¹⁰ For this reason, some treatment centers integrate professionally designed therapeutic gardens into their mental health programs. These spaces often feature sensory paths, medicinal herb beds, shaded seating, and structured zones for quiet reflection or guided interaction. Activities are led by trained horticultural therapists and intentionally woven into treatment plans targeting depression, trauma, or anxiety.
Outdoor Therapy Sessions
Some programs don’t just bring therapy outdoors. They let nature become part of the process. Instead of sitting across from a therapist under fluorescent lights, teens might talk while walking in or observing nature. The sights and sounds of birds calling, wind moving leaves, and the smell of earth do more than set the mood. They shift the body out of fight-or-flight, reducing cortisol and allowing the nervous system to soften.
For many teens who find traditional office settings too intense or sterile, being outside helps the hard stuff feel a little easier to say. Outdoor therapy can help teens stay more grounded during emotionally difficult conversations and improves treatment outcomes for anxiety and depression.¹¹
Nature Immersion Workshops
Research on nature immersion for youth suggests it increases emotional resilience and strengthens the stress-buffering capacity of the nervous system.¹² Nature workshops blend gardening with nature-based creative therapies like eco-art, seed-to-harvest projects, or guided nature walks. Instead of focusing directly on verbal processing, which can sometimes feel daunting, these immersive experiences support emotional regulation and self-expression through hands-on engagement. For teens who struggle with talk therapy, this model creates therapeutic entry points through experience rather than explanation.
Contact Mission Prep for Teen Nature Healing Programs
When anxiety or depression makes everyday life feel overwhelming, talk therapy alone might not be enough. At Mission Prep, we believe healing can also happen with hands in the soil, under open skies, and surrounded by living things that grow at their own pace.
Our nature-based mental health programs for teens offer more than just outdoor time. They create a structured, evidence-based environment where therapeutic gardening becomes a path toward emotional regulation, self-trust, and calm. Whether your teen is struggling with mood disorders, stress, trauma, or emotional overwhelm, our horticultural therapy model offers a safe space to reconnect with nature, others, and themselves.
Each of our programs is led by licensed mental health professionals and integrates garden-based healing activities such as seed planting, compost building, and mindfulness in sensory-rich spaces.
If you’re interested in learning more about horticultural therapy for depression or stress reduction through gardening, we’re here to help. Reach out to Mission Prep – we can talk you through whether our nature healing programs are the right fit for your teen’s treatment journey.
References
- National Institutes of Health (US), & Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. (2007). Information about mental illness and the brain. National Institutes of Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20369/
- Azad, S., & Marselle, M. (2025). Thriving through stressful life events with nature: A mixed-method study on tending indoor plants and rumination resilience. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(3), 369. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11942186/
- Oh, Y.-A., Lee, A.-Y., An, K. J., & Park, S.-A. (2020). Horticultural therapy program for improving emotional well-being of elementary school students: An observational study. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 51, 126670. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338706532_Horticultural_therapy_program_for_improving_emotional_well-being_of_elementary_school_students_an_observational_study
- Paulus, F. W., Ohmann, S., Möhler, E., Plener, P. L., & Popow, C. (2021). Emotional dysregulation in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders: A narrative review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 628252. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8573252/
- Gladwell, V. F., Brown, D. K., Barton, J. L., Tarvainen, M. P., Kuoppa, P., Pretty, J., Suddaby, J. M., & Sandercock, G. R. H. (2012). The effects of views of nature on autonomic control. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 112(9), 3379–3386. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22270487/
- Lee, A.-Y., Kim, S.-O., & Park, S.-A. (2021). Attention and emotional states during horticultural activities of adults in their 20s using electroencephalography: A pilot study. Sustainability, 13(23), 12968. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/12968
- Frontiers Science Communications. (2019, April 9). Stressed? Take a 20-minute nature pill. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/news/2019/04/09/20-minute-nature-pill-relieves-stress/
- Lee, M.-S., Lee, J., Park, B.-J., & Miyazaki, Y. (2015). Interaction with indoor plants may reduce psychological and physiological stress by suppressing autonomic nervous system activity in young adults: A randomized crossover study. Journal of Physiological Anthropology, 34(1), 21. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4419447/
- Wood, C. J., Barton, J., & Wicks, C. L. (2024). Effectiveness of social and therapeutic horticulture for reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1507354. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11799672/
- Li, Q., Whittle, S., & Rakesh, D. (2025). Longitudinal associations between greenspace exposure, structural brain development, and mental health and academic performance during early adolescence. Biological Psychiatry. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40222467/
- Coventry, P. A., Brown, J. E., Pervin, J., Brabyn, S., Pateman, R., Breedvelt, J., Gilbody, S., Stancliffe, R., McEachan, R., & White, P. L. (2021). Nature-based outdoor activities for mental and physical health: Systematic review and meta-analysis. SSM – Population Health, 16, 100934. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8498096/
- Liu, J., & Green, R. J. (2023). The effect of exposure to nature on children’s psychological well-being: A systematic review of the literature. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 81, 127846. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866723000171
