Data released yesterday has shown 14% of Perth residents have no garden to enjoy the better weather during lockdown, which is taking its toll. Picture: Mhairi Edwards.

City has Scotland’s highest proportion of homes without private outdoor area

Dundee has the highest proportion of homes without a garden in Scotland with more than one fifth of addresses having no access to private outdoor space.

As households face measures restricting them to their own properties, data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed the areas where residents suffer the most from a lack of garden.

Doing the weeding or cutting the grass has been shown to have a positive effect on wellbeing, and mental health campaigners reacted to the statistics by calling for more action to give people access to fresh air and green spaces.

When broken down by local authority area, Dundee City topped the league table with 21% of addresses lacking a garden, almost double the Scottish average of 11%.

Dundee was followed by Glasgow City and then Argyll and Bute where both council areas recorded that 19% of homes don’t have a garden.

In Fife just 9% of homes did not have a garden, while the figure for Angus was 13% and Perth and Kinross was 14%.

Toni Giugliano, senior policy manager at the Mental Health Foundation, said more should be done to help those without gardens.

“Staying as active as possible, both indoors and outdoors, during Covid-19 will help give us structure and reduce stress, but research suggests that physical activity in green spaces has greater positive effects on wellbeing compared to physical activity indoors,” Mr Giugliano said.

“Local authorities need to do more to help people access green spaces. Removing restrictive barriers, investing in paths and pavements around parks, introducing no-traffic zones in neighbourhoods and funding community initiatives that seek to connect vulnerable people with green spaces could be prioritised.”

Professor Harriet Gross, author of the Psychology Of Gardening, acknowledged that being stuck indoors caused “distress” but said growing plants inside was one way of overcoming the problem.

“Being outdoors is a positive psychological experience and is about engaging with nature. But there are also small things, like having seeds grow, that can give you a sense of what gardening is about. A lot of people have been doing indoor gardening, like growing cress, because you feel like something natural is happening in your home,” she said.

“Even short walks and taking notice of things like birdsong, because it is a bit quieter, because traffic isn’t around, is really restorative.”

Picture:mhairi Edwards. Professor Harriet Gross said being stuck indoors caused “distress”. However, she added that growing plants inside was one way of overcoming the problem.