Syftet med vår studie var att studera trädgårdsterapins roll i människors tillfrisknande från stressrelaterad ohälsa. Studiens frågeställningar var: (1) vilka faktorer beskrivs som stressreducerande i natur och trädgård? (2) på vilket sätt kan personer med stressrelaterad ohälsa bli hjälpta genom trädgårdsterapi? För att besvara våra frågeställningar användes en kvalitativ metod med hjälp av en kunskapsöversikt. Våra analysverktyg har varit KASAM och Coping. Slutsatsen av studien är att trädgård och natur kan stärka återhämtningsprocessen för människor med stressrelaterad ohälsa. Trädgård och natur kan bidra med stressreducerande faktorer som gör att återhämtningen påskyndas och stärks, såsom att hitta lugn, känna trygghet och få utrymme för reflektion. Även samtal och aktiviteter är viktiga delar för återhämtning i trädgårdsterapin. Sökord vi använt oss av är: trädgårdsterapi, terapiträdgårdar, grön rehabilitering, restorativ trädgård och stressrelaterad ohälsa. / The aim of this study was to study the role of horticultural therapy in people´s recovery from stress-related illness. Study questions were: (1) what factors are described as stress-reducing in nature and gardening? (2) in what way can people with stress-related illness be helped by garden therapy? In order to answer our questions, a qualitative methodology using a research synthesis has been made. Our analysis tools were Sense of Coherence and Coping. The study shows that garden and nature can enhance the recovery process for people with stress-related illness. Garden and nature can help with stress-reducing factors that make recovery accelerated and strengthened, such as finding peace, feeling safe and have a space for reflection. Also conversations and activities are important elements for recovery in the horticultural therapy. Keywords we have used are: horticultural therapy, healing gardens, garden therapy, therapeutic gardens, green rehabilitation, restorative garden and stress related illness.

In the past Man coinhabited harmoniously with nature only to have the balance disturbed with the advent of the Industrial Revolution replacing the green habitat with urban concrete settlements Consequently, the characteristics of the contemporary city pose a set of serious threat to man’s physical and mental health. Crowdedness, lack of apt infrastructure, pollution, noise pollution and rise in temperature are all contributing factors to the Man’s demised health and detachment from previous amicable coexistence with nature. For the past 30 years, extensive research has been conducted studying the correlation between man and nature, and nature’s impact on man’s health. The theory of “Biophilia,” by Edward, O. Wilson, Rachel and Stephen Kaplan’s “Attention Restorative Theory,” and Roger Ulrich’s “Stress Reduction Theory,” have been innovating and contributing towards gaining more understanding of the importance of a green environment in man’s everyday life. As a corollary the above-mentioned theories gave rise to the following quantitative study conducted over a 4-month period, including 81 respondents, in Spring 2020, focusing on whether a natural green environment in Sweden had impacted the mental and physical health in Greek immigrants to Sweden. The findings suggest that comparing the respondents’ life in Greece and respectively in Sweden there was indeed an improvement in the mood and health of the sample groups taking into consideration: how healthy they are, how healthy they feel, how happy they feel in relation to work, time spent in Sweden, marital status and of course the parameters that focus on the part of the natural environment at home and in their neighbourhood in Sweden. There seem to have been a statistically significant improvement in their health compared to when they lived in Greece but there is insufficient evidence to support that some of the parameters examined are responsible for this. Happiness on the other hand seem to possess a statistical important role due to their marital status among others along with the green surrounding environment having an impact on their mental well-being but not their physical health. Therefore, a more sustainable green environment seems to have impacted the overall psychological and physical state of the respondents, but further extensive research is recommended to investigate in depths others factors i.e., psychosomatics, environmental psychology along with nature related theories and studies.