Gardens
Communal or shared gardens are a common feature of almshouses and are most often experienced within a three or four-sided courtyard. These courtyards can often be seen by those walking past but are not public space and are usually for the sole use of residents, staff and invited visitors. How garden spaces are managed varies across almshouses. We found that in some locations, enthusiastic and committed residents (most usually a small group) are happy to take on the maintenance and planning of the communal gardens, and this is supported financially and physically by the charity. In other places the majority of garden maintenance is undertaken by the charity, especially where there are extensive lawns, for example, and residents have an opportunity to maintain a small piece of a larger garden as their own. This is usually a spot nearest to their home for ease of access, watering and for immediate enjoyment as they can see their garden from their own window, although this can exclude residents without immediate garden access (i.e. not on the ground floor or without a door opening directly onto the shared garden).
We know that communal space, both inside and outside, is important for the people we have spoken to. Communal areas are important both as places that bring benefits and as places to connect with others; gardens hold an additional benefit as they are also places to connect with nature. The provision of individual gardening areas within a communal space can be liberating for individual residents. It ‘marks out’ territory within the garden and allows residents to engage in gardening activities without taking on a whole ‘patch.’ For one resident, having a smaller garden was much more suitable as they could access “ … a little bit of garden out the back. Not a lot, but a little bit, which again, I had a huge garden which didn’t suit” (Resident 35), as with another resident who found in their old house, they “ … couldn’t cope with the garden … although I love my garden. The garden was like a football field” (Resident 31). No longer having the sole responsibility of the maintenance of a garden can be a relief in later life:
“I haven’t got the garden to think about”
(Resident 47).
The possibility to garden is highly valued for those who want it but giving access to all and ownership to some can present difficulties for management and maintenance when there are competing wants from different residents. For the people we spoke to, gardens were also important in remaining physically active as well as socially active as:
“ … we buy plants and we put them in, and we go out there … and we sit, there are chairs, and we talk, get a bit of sun. So yes, yes, we have got an active life”
(Resident 49)
Having use of an external space as a garden and taking part in the maintenance of those spaces by doing the gardening, is dependent on physical health, ability, knowledge, and time.
Whether it is doing a little bit of digging or planting in a communal garden or looking out onto and into, a garden provides a valued connection to other people as “ … you can sit out there for hours, and then people chat to you” (Residents 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55). Residents value gardens to such a great extent that for some it influences their choice when moving in:
“we picked this one because you can see the garden from the window”
(Resident 14).
When there is a communal garden used regularly, as a daily routine or a place to walk through for access to your own front door, other residents benefit from that social interaction, particularly if the garden is:
“ … in the middle and you see people. The people who live over there walk through the garden to come in and out … they come right by my door. I see people frequently 8 or 10 times a day
(Resident 14)
Individual small gardens, which can be small hard paved areas, still represent an opportunity for social interaction.
“ … there are times we are getting the chairs out of the shed and put them in the backyard … we’re sat and doing the crossword out there and have a cup of tea out there
(Residents 36 and 37)
Residents also valued the “peace and quiet” provided by living in the almshouse. For some people, this peaceful environment was in direct contrast to where they lived before. Outdoor spaces and gardens particularly provide a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere, “it’s peace and quiet, it’s tranquil, there’s a garden, there’s space” (Resident 16). This is even the case in an urban setting, as one resident explained:
“You’ve seen that I can sit out there. I could sit out there all day and nobody would bother you. I know you live on the very edge of the main road and you can hear traffic, but it gets to a point where you can’t really hear the traffic, it just becomes a distant noise”
(Resident 32)
Gardens obviously provide a lot of benefit for humans. What was also noticeable from our conversations with residents and from site visits was the value placed on nature within the garden, and how hearing, seeing and smelling the non-human life within a garden was uplifting, reassuring, provided a sense of tranquillity, or of peace:
“Yes it’s gorgeous. You come out in the morning and when the wind blows you get all the smell of the herbs. It’s absolutely divine”
(Resident 64)
This nature connection is important for humans and for the changing climate, as gardens can provide shade, reduce the impact of rainfall in urban areas, provide produce and habitat for pollinators.
In some instances, the garden reminded people of earlier times in their life listening to birds or watching nature unfold. Giving value to nature in this way can help to ensure the benefit of gardens to nature remains, is maintained, and biodiversity encouraged. Gardens, including rooftop gardens, additionally provide other environmental controls, including contributing to reducing the impacts of heavy rainfall as the soil and vegetation hold on to the rain longer than a hard surface does, and helping with cooling, which is especially important in urban areas where surface and air temperatures are higher than in rural locations.
Overall, and from a range of perspectives across the research, there are many benefits to incorporating gardens in almshouses. Size, scale, maintenance, and management are all issues to consider, but the benefits of providing gardens (communal and private or a mixture of both) appear to outweigh any issues (even cost). Residents, staff, visitors, nature and the environment all benefit from provision of gardens. The courtyard form, familiar to many in the almshouse movement, is an enduring form, and one that has been adopted and adapted over the years to provide nature-connected communal space for social and physical wellbeing and is a model we increasingly see across a range of housing type for later living.
“It’s nice to think you can walk round the garden when you want to, and to sit outside when it’s nice and sunny and relax. You can have your family sitting out in the garden with you when they visit”
(Resident 7)
