As the occurrence of healing gardens have increased, so too have the terms used to describe them, making it difficult to distinguish one type from another. When the distinctions between healing garden types are understood, designers and other allied professionals can better inform clients and other stakeholders, create more intentional and responsive designs, and effectively contribute to the development of new projects.

This paper presents a framework that describes the design purpose, design focus, and potential users of each type of healing garden, including existing gardens as examples.

The basic structure of the hierarchical framework of healing garden types is divided into a dual track structure of primarily passive (restorative) and primarily active (enabling), which clarifies the differences and connections between different types of healing gardens.

The term “healing garden” is often used to describe any garden in healthcare settings when in fact there are some important differences between healing garden types. These distinctions inform the design of the healing gardens, support high quality programming in the space, and ensure that the needs of the users are considered. Healing gardens must be designed to meet the specific needs of the populations utilizing them, including residents/patients, staff, and family members.