Gardening in Every Care Home

We believe that every care home in Scotland should have access to high-quality gardens and year-round gardening activities. Our ambition is simple but transformative: to make gardening a basic expectation in every care setting, so that residents, staff, and visitors can all enjoy the health, wellbeing and social benefits of connecting with nature.

There are around 1,100 care settings in Scotland, caring for more than 35,000 people — the vast majority elderly. Yet the gardening provision in these homes is inconsistent and often inadequate. Some residents enjoy thriving gardens and weekly clubs, while others face bleak, unused outdoor areas or none at all.

The evidence is clear:

• Even a view of greenery can lower stress and aid recovery.
• Regular gardening reduces anxiety, loneliness, and physical decline.
• Staff, too, benefit from green spaces that relieve pressure and support mental health.

And yet, only around 5% of care homes in Scotland currently engage with Trellis and its therapeutic gardening expertise.

With staff stretched thin and turnover high, many lack the skills, confidence, or resources to provide meaningful gardening activities.

Through the Calyx Project, Trellis is developing a comprehensive package of support with the aim of bringing gardening into every care setting. This includes:

• Tailored training and demonstrations for care staff.
• On-site visits and activity sessions with residents.
• Year-round gardening activity resources to help staff run sessions independently.
• Therapeutic garden design expertise to transform spaces into safe, accessible, and life-enhancing environments.
• Ongoing mentoring and community links to make gardens sustainable long-term.
• A dedicated Gardening Toolkit for Care Homes — part of our new Growing Well Toolkit Series

This easy-to-use resource will give care home staff the confidence and tools to deliver gardening sessions, with structured multi-week activity plans, adaptive gardening tips, indoor alternatives for winter, risk assessment templates, and sourcing guidance for tools and materials.

Our approach is flexible — from simple tabletop activities indoors to full outdoor redesigns — always adapted to each care home’s needs.

With your support, this project will:

1. Create more opportunities for residents to enjoy gardening.
2. Improve physical and mental wellbeing for people in care.
3. Build staff confidence to run regular activities.
4. Ensure residents, staff, and families can enjoy safe, welcoming, quality outdoor spaces.
5. Provide care homes with a practical toolkit so gardening becomes part of everyday life, not just an occasional activity.

Early pilots have already shown the impact: residents smiling, relaxing, and reconnecting with past hobbies; staff gaining confidence; and homes reporting reduced isolation and more vibrant community life

• Partnered with care homes in Midlothian, Perth, and the Borders to pilot garden clubs.
• Delivered live Zoom gardening sessions and “Garden by Post” kits during lockdown.
• Developed an online training programme for care staff.
• Supported homes to create sensory gardens that now provide therapeutic spaces for residents.
• Begun developing the Growing Well Toolkit to make gardening more accessible, structured, and sustainable in care settings.

We now have a tried-and-tested model ready to roll out across Scotland.

This work costs around £45,000 per year to deliver at scale. With your support, we can:

• Reach 3–6 care homes each year in different regions
• Provide training, resources, toolkits, and in-depth support to make gardens truly sustainable.
• Expand nationally so that every care setting can offer gardening as standard.

Your donation will help transform lives — bringing joy, connection, and wellbeing to thousands of people in care.