The idea that gardens and gardening are good for your health is no surprise. Several GardenWeb users, for example, can attest that being in the garden helped them cope with stress. But the results of a new study, seem to show that gardens have healing properties beyond just stress relief.

The study followed 58 people, all over the age of 65, as they took two walks each week for six weeks at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Fl. Researchers then measured how sad participants felt compared to before the study began, with most feeling significantly happier. As a result, they concluded that regular walks in a garden can help reduce symptoms of depression.

Although I can't travel to Florida to walk in the Morikami Garden, there are healing gardens—gardens designed to facilitate physical, mental and spiritual healing—all around the country. Take a photo tour of some of them.

View photos of healing gardens.
See how gardening helped GardenWeb users heal.

photo: d. flaherty/getty images