Finding peace in green spaces
In an increasingly fast-paced world filled with deadlines, hungry social media, and life’s chores, we are constantly searching for places that can help dial down our peaking stress levels. Thankfully, these calming spaces are easy to find and free to visit.
Backyards, front yards, courtyards, local parks, national parks, botanic gardens … these are just some of the plant-filled places you can access to enjoy some rejuvenating “green” therapy.
The healing power of plants is well researched, with evidence suggesting that exposure to green spaces is beneficial for mental and physical health. Studies have shown that simply being amongst plants not only reduces stress, but also other emotions including fear, anger and sadness, as well as reducing blood pressure, pulse rate and muscle tension. Nature is nurturing, so the more time we spend around plants, the happier and healthier we become.
It might be a well-worn saying, but “stopping to smell the roses” is actually a great experience and one many of us don’t do nearly enough. Not only does this act give you time to pause, but you also give your senses of smell, sight and touch their due reward by taking in a bloom’s stunning beauty, drawing in its heady fragrance and feeling the petal-filled flower in your hand.
Gardens provide a place to contemplate. Thoughtfully designed yards incorporate nooks and secluded spaces, where a table and comfortable chair, enveloped by hedges and vine-filled screens, can be positioned. You now have a perfect green retreat to sit, read a book, have a cuppa or glass of wine, or simply sit and cogitate.
You don’t need a large yard to find peace; calmness can be found in every space, no matter what size. Medium- to high-density living often means limited easy access to external wellness-inducing green spaces, so the solution is adding a forest of plants to a courtyard or balcony to create your own green retreat.
Produce gardens are always happy spaces, even when the aphids, caterpillars and cabbage moths are waging war against your veggies. Setting up an edible area for success encourages better-growing plants and a greater harvest.
Key to getting the best out of your veggies and herbs is giving them enough sun. Locate your patch or pots where they will receive at least six hours of direct sunlight in both summer and winter. Where less light is received, especially through the cooler months, your choice of plants is generally restricted to leafy greens, such as chard. Protecting from the late summer sun reduces the incidence of leaf and fruit scorching. Regular watering and feeding will see a satisfying bounty of fresh home grown and super healthy produce to be picked.
When plants are happy, gardeners are happy, too. The key to success on both those counts is choosing the right plants. Firstly, you must select for the season. Sowing warm-season-loving tomato seeds in October will see them sprout, grow and fruit, alternatively those seeds planted in May will germinate but little else. Lettuce is always a go to plant no matter what season. As your confidence to grow a range of vegetables and herbs increases, adding some traditionally harder types such as Brussels sprouts, just adds to the fun and wonder of gardening.
Herbs are an essential part of any therapeutic space. Place a pot of peppermint or lemon balm on your outdoor table; take a cup of hot water, pinch off a few leaves, drop in and let them infuse, then enjoy sipping this tasty brew – simply another way to spend additional quality time sitting in the garden.
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Adelaide, the city in a parkland, is blessed with a raft of green spaces enjoyed by generations of South Australians looking for a place to walk, stop, sit and relax. Starting in the Adelaide Parklands, two of the many wonderful parks you will find in this precinct are very different but equally special places to explore.
Firstly, Veale Gardens is Adelaide’s premier rose garden. Named after William Veale, who was town clerk of Adelaide from 1947 until 1965, the garden contains 1400 roses of more than 50 different varieties. Walk through the sunken garden, filled with beds of bright blooming roses and give yourself plenty of time to stop and smell these beauties.
Secondly, the Adelaide Himeji Garden, located in Park 18 (Wita Wirra), transports visitors to ancient Japan. Blending both senzui and kare senzui classic styles, these manicured gardens were designed for deep meditation. Find a place to sit, watch, reflect, and enjoy.
Another hidden gem – a few kilometres east of the CBD – St Peter’s Billabong is a renovated site that offers a snapshot of SA’s pre-colonial grassy woodland landscape. The kilometre-long, spring-fed billabong, once part of the River Torrens, is an ox-bow lake providing sanctuary to birds and wildlife. Native blue banded bees (Amegilla cingulate) dart between nectar-filled blooms, while birds including little black cormorants, Australian white ibis, dusky moorhen and Australasian swamphen provide an impressive show of birdlife both on water and among the trees. Visitors can hide away from the hustle and bustle of suburbia even though it is only a short distance away.
Brownhill Creek Recreation Park is a 51-hectare reserve in the Adelaide foothills. Once a gathering ground for Kaurna people, it offers visitors a perfect escape to picnic, play or walk. Just coming to see the magnificent River Red Gums, some aged more than 300 years old, that follow Brownhill Creek through the steep-sided valley, is well worth the trip.
Michael Perry Botanic Reserve in Stonyfell may not be well known, but it is another wonderful place to spend time in nature. Stretch your legs along the 1.2-kilometre network of paths that take you around the undulating site, through bushland, past the heritage-listed garden and big exotic trees, including an impressive Bunya Pine planted when the grounds were part of the expansive Clifton Estate. Keep an eye downwards in winter and spring for several species of native orchids, including the Wallflower Donkey Orchid.
Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park is a sprawling 340-hectare site filled with pink gums, correas, grey mallee, and other native flora and fauna. This last bastion of lush, remnant bushland is a snapshot of what Adelaide’s coastal areas would have looked like prior to European settlement and is a privilege to visit and enjoy. Grab a hat and water, then follow the many markers, with scannable QR codes attached and you’ll be afforded wonderful views of Myponga Beach and the Willunga escarpment.
The article originally featured in the February 2025 SALIFE magazine.
