Gardens

Growing Health, Connection and Community Wellbeing

Welcome to the Defence Gardens Scheme Gardens page — a directory of the gardens, green spaces and partner delivery sites where we work with the Armed Forces community to support health, recovery and connection.

The gardens are more than just beautiful spaces — they are places where people can come together, be active in nature, build relationships and access supportive activity in community settings.

Bright green overlapping cloud shapes on a black background.
A person working in a garden or greenhouse, surrounded by green plants with large leaves. The person is wearing a beige cap and a teal shirt, leaning over the plants, possibly tending to them.
Seal of the Department of Agriculture Gardens and We produce, featuring a circular design with a wheel at the center and the words 'Department of Agriculture Gardens and We produce, Place, Purposes' around it.

A Hub-and-Spoke Approach to Wellbeing

The Defence Gardens Scheme uses a 
Hub-and-Spoke model to deliver health and wellbeing support in community settings that are accessible, safe, and transformative.

Hubs are core garden or partner sites with established infrastructure, capacity and expertise. These are places where people can access regular, structured programmes and link to local services.

Spokes are partner gardens, community spaces and delivery venues that extend our reach across regions — making nature-based support local and easier to access.

This model aligns with wider health system reforms — particularly the NHS Long Term Plan — which emphasises moving care and support from clinical settings into communities, strengthening wellbeing where people live, work and socialise.

Supporting Health in the Community

The NHS 10-Year Plan and related policy frameworks emphasise:

  • Prevention and early intervention

  • Place-based community support

  • Reducing reliance on clinical settings when appropriate

  • Linking healthcare with social and environmental determinants of wellbeing

The Defence Gardens Scheme supports these priorities by offering nature-based, non-clinical programmes in local gardens and green spaces — reducing isolation, improving wellbeing and strengthening community connections.

Our gardens act as community assets, supporting health, social prescribing and partnerships with statutory and voluntary services.

A garden with tall pink flowers, green foliage, a wooden fence in the background, and a small old rusted garden tool among the plants.

Locations

Across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we work with trusted delivery partners to bring programmes to local communities. DGS currently works with 11 Gardens across the UK.

England

1. The Eden Project
2. Royal Hospital Chelsea
3. Wiltshire Wildlife Trust

Scotland

4. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
5. Op CAIRNGORMS
6. Erskine Veterans Centre Forres

Northern Ireland

7. Ashes to Gold
8. Somme Nursing Home
9. HMP Maghaberry
10. Brooke House

WALES

11. Woodys Lodge

A map of the United Kingdom with numbered locations marked in orange circles.

What Happens in
Our Gardens

Our gardens host a range of wellbeing opportunities including:

  • Structured programmes that improve resilience and mental wellbeing

  • One-day workshops that build skills and connection

  • Community growing, outdoor learning and purpose-driven activity

  • Peer support and social interaction in nature

All activity is grounded in evidence from our independent evaluation, aligning with principles of green social prescribing and community-focused health and wellbeing.

A person in a plaid shirt working with various tools on a wooden bench outdoors, with green plants and a fence in the background.

  • "I had become isolated, and I found a lot of comfort in the garden…I was interested in the well-being aspect but I also wanted to go and meet other individuals who are suffering. I find it therapeutic to sit in a garden and speak to people, you are surrounded by people who are all equal."

    —Veteran, Autumn 2024

  • "Being in nature you enjoy what the earth has got to offer you, it's more emphasised on the programme, you see the veg growing…flowers...I see the relaxing side, laying under trees and listening to birds. We used to do that in the army and it slowed me down. You remember how happy you were being outside and this programme reminds you how important it is to be outside."

    —Veteran, Spring 2024