Soil carbon and nitrogen contents play an important role in sustaining soil physical and chemical quality and help to have healthy environments. The continues conversion of rangelands to arable lands has the potential to change carbon and nitrogen sequestration. In this study to evaluate the effects of land use change on soil organic carbon and nitrogen stock, forty samples collected from north...

Urban community gardens worldwide provide significant health benefits to those gardening and consuming fresh produce from them. Urban gardens are most often placed in locations and on land in which soil contaminants reflect past practices and often contain elevated levels of metals and organic contaminants. Garden plot dividers made from either railroad ties or chromated copper arsenate (CCA) p...

The range and use of ecosystem services provided by urban sacred sites has hardly been considered in studies of urban ecology, sustainability and human wellbeing. This paper examines the perceived ecosystem services supplied by green spaces or gardens associated with places of religious worship and appreciated by worshippers in a mid-sized town in South Africa. A questionnaire with open, closed...

OBJECTIVE To examine the impact of gardens and outdoor spaces on the mental and physical well-being of people with dementia who are resident in care homes and understand the views of people with dementia, their carers, and care home staff on the value of gardens and outdoor spaces. DESIGN Systematic review. METHODS Fourteen databases were searched from inception to February 2013. Forward an...

INTRODUCTION Poor mental health in childhood has implications for health and wellbeing in later life. Natural space may benefit children's social, emotional and behavioural development. We investigated whether neighbourhood natural space and private garden access were related to children's developmental change over time. We asked whether relationships differed between boys and girls, or by hous...

UNLABELLED Garden soils were investigated as reservoirs and potential sources of pathogenic Legionella bacteria. Legionella bacteria were detected in 22 of 177 garden soil samples (12%) by amoebal coculture. Of these 22 Legionella-positive soil samples, seven contained Legionella pneumophila Several other species were found, including the pathogenic Legionella longbeachae (4 gardens) and Legion...

OBJECTIVES Objectives were to review the literature on horticultural therapy and describe the Danderyd Hospital Horticultural Therapy Garden and its associated horticultural therapy programme. DESIGN The literature review is based on the search words 'gardening', 'healing garden' and 'horticultural therapy'. The description is based on the second author's personal knowledge and popular-scient...