Assessing the Influence of Landscape Factors in School Gardens on Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions, Use, and Restorative Experiences

Abstract

This study examined how school garden landscape factors shape special education teachers’ perceptions, use patterns, and restorative experiences in two public special education schools in Zhejiang Province, China. Although school gardens are increasingly recognised as supportive environments for mental restoration, evidence on teachers, especially those working in special education settings, remains limited. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 114 teachers to assess perceived stress, garden use patterns, evaluations of ten landscape factors, and perceptions of four dimensions of overall garden quality. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression were applied. Results showed that 95.61% of teachers reported experiencing work related stress at least sometimes, and 92.98% agreed that natural environments help relieve stress and promote psychological recovery. However, actual garden use remained limited, as only 19.30% visited almost daily and 52.63% typically stayed for 16 to 30 minutes. Teachers mainly used the garden for low intensity and restorative activities such as passing through, sitting quietly, and grounding. Overall garden quality was evaluated relatively low, particularly for psychological restoration and sensory quality, while several individual landscape factors received high ratings. Correlation analysis revealed that vegetation coverage, educational spaces, natural shading, aromatic flowers, and locally adapted plants were positively associated with multiple quality dimensions. In the final regression model, perceived aromatic flowers (β = 0.25, p < 0.05) emerged as the strongest positive predictor of overall garden quality, while visit duration (β = –0.27, p < 0.05) showed a significant negative effect. These findings highlight a mismatch between teachers’ restorative needs and current garden performance, and emphasise the importance of sensory rich planting and context responsive design in improving restorative school landscapes for special education teachers.