Posted on May 20, 2026
Post categories: Landscape Architecture News Research Urban Design & Planning
As the understanding of how our environments influence human wellness, behavior and psychology continues to grow, so does the role of landscape architects, garden designers and health care professionals in creating healing spaces that meet the physical, psychological, emotional and social needs of a wide range of users.
Authored by Professor Daniel Winterbottom and Affiliate Associate Professor Amy Wagenfeld, PhD, OTR/L, SCEM, EDAC, FAOTA, Therapeutic Gardens: Design for Healing Spaces (2nd Edition) explores case studies from around the world that demonstrate how gardens can be designed to support learning, movement, well-being, and mental and psychological health.
“When initially published in 2015, Therapeutic Gardens: Design for Healing Spaces represented many firsts,” express Wagenfeld and Winterbottom. “It introduced a unique interdisciplinary partnership between landscape architecture and occupational therapy, and an effective translation of therapeutic design principles into practice through previously unpublished case studies of noteworthy healing gardens in community and private settings. It quickly became a leading resource in the field.”
The newly released second edition has been updated to include pandemic and mental health design, trauma-responsive design, designing for neurodivergence, and more. Highly praised by professionals, academics and students, this book is an essential resource for those in landscape architecture, planning, design, healthcare, and mental health fields.
Wagenfeld and Winterbottom explain, “The second edition takes this highly respected work to the next level, by diving deeply into trauma- and sensory-responsive design, expanding on designing for correctional facilities, and including new case studies that feature examples such as refugee gardens that link the extraordinary connection between therapeutic landscapes and human health. As a colleague recently shared, ‘Daniel and Amy’s new book is the go-to reference for how therapeutic gardens must be designed.’”
Read more about Therapeutic Gardens: Design for Healing Spaces (2nd Edition).
Reviews:
In this wonderful book, Winterbottom and Wagenfeld take us on a garden journey through history, theory, empirical evidence, and practical experience.
Their focus on the many varieties of human suffering – from illness to bereavement, from poverty to disability – reflects both their deep compassion, and the sweeping therapeutic potential of gardens. It’s clear that gardens are a public health strategy, one that promotes health, equity, and well-being. There is no better guide to therapeutic gardens than this book.
Through its inspiring case studies, it brings to life core principles and details of execution in the creation of therapeutic gardens, and it shows how to design not just for but also with the people gardens serve.
A must read and timely reminder of the role of the designer in creating places that truly nourish our deepest needs to connect with nature and with one another, necessary to help navigate, survive, heal and thrive.
The book is full of ideas for designing spaces that promote balance and meaning in everyday life. For all those reasons, and because I gratefully receive those benefits in our garden, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.