Gardening Health Benefits: How Soil Contact Boosts Immunity After 70
Part of the Cumberland View Village Wellness Series
For many Australians over 70, the garden has always been part of the rhythm of life. The veggie patch out the back. The roses that took years to get just right. The quiet satisfaction of coaxing something out of the ground on a cool morning.
As it turns out, what felt instinctively good was genuinely good. And science has spent the better part of two decades proving it.
What the Research Shows
Research published in Scientific Reports confirms that nature-based activities, particularly hands-on gardening and therapeutic horticulture, deliver measurable health benefits for older adults. Not vague feel-good outcomes, but specific, physiological changes in the body.
At the centre of this research is a naturally occurring soil bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae. When you handle soil – digging, planting, pulling weeds – you come into contact with this microbe, which has been shown to stimulate serotonin production in the brain. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter associated with mood regulation, calm, and a general sense of wellbeing. The garden, it turns out, may be quietly lifting your spirits while you work.
Beyond mood, regular contact with soil microbes appears to play a meaningful role in immune function. The “old friends” hypothesis – developed across decades of microbiological research – suggests that exposure to environmental microbes found in healthy soil helps regulate and strengthen immune response. For people over 70, who often experience a natural gradual decline in immune function, this kind of ongoing exposure may offer a real counterbalance. A 2020 review by University of Queensland researchers found that regular soil contact is associated with a more diverse immune profile and an increase in anti-inflammatory immune cells.
The Physical Benefits Go Further Than You Might Think
Gardening is classified as moderate physical activity, which means it supports cardiovascular health, joint mobility, grip strength, and balance. These aren’t minor benefits. They’re the building blocks of staying active and independent as you age.
Regular gardeners also tend to spend more time outdoors, which supports vitamin D production, healthy sleep rhythms, and improved mood through natural light exposure. It’s one of those activities where the benefits compound quietly over time, without ever feeling like exercise.
Why This Generation Understands It Intuitively
For people who grew up in suburban Melbourne in the 1950s and 60s, the backyard was a working space. Vegetables, fruit trees, herbs along the fence – gardening wasn’t a hobby so much as a household rhythm. It was physical, purposeful, and deeply satisfying.
That connection doesn’t fade with age. If anything, it deepens. And the research suggests that keeping it alive is one of the more genuinely meaningful things you can do for your long-term health.
A Garden That’s Yours to Enjoy
At Cumberland View Retirement Village in Wheelers Hill, the natural environment is a central part of daily life, not an afterthought.
Set across 34 acres of established, landscaped grounds in Melbourne’s south-east, the village offers space to be genuinely in nature every day. Many people here tend their own garden plots, getting their hands properly in the soil and doing the real work that the research says matters most. Others simply enjoy morning walks through the established gardens, or the pleasure of sitting outside among growing things.
This is independent living in the truest sense. You decide how you spend your days. If that means an hour in the garden before breakfast, a wander through the grounds in the afternoon, or quietly tending something you’ve planted yourself, that’s entirely your call. There’s no schedule to follow. Just space, green surroundings, and the freedom to live as you like.
A Place to Keep Growing
One of the most common concerns for people thinking about a move in later life is the garden. Will I have to give it up? Will I lose that connection to the soil?
It’s a fair question. And the research gives it real weight – not just emotionally, but from a health perspective.
At Cumberland View, the garden doesn’t stop. It simply changes shape. You’re no longer maintaining a full property on your own, but you’re still connected to living green space, still able to get your hands in the soil, still surrounded by the kind of environment that research confirms is good for your body and your mind.
Grow Well at Cumberland View Village
At Cumberland View Village, you’ll find more than a home – you’ll find a place where the garden is part of everyday life. Our 34-acre grounds give community members the space and the soil to keep growing, stay active, and feel genuinely well.
Whether you love getting your hands in the ground or simply enjoy the calm of being surrounded by nature, our village offers the environment to support it.
Come and see it for yourself. Book a tour today and spend some time walking our gardens and grounds. We’d love to show you around.
