Two research questions guided a study of children's perceptions of the restorative value of schoolyard trees – one focusing on seasonal changes of deciduous tree foliage; the other on the addition of conifer trees as a way to extend the restorative effect of schoolyard plantings. A proposed schoolyard greening project was used to visualize alternative planting designs and seasonal foliage changes. These design alternatives were used as three-dimensional digital visual stimuli in a survey administered to children in London, Ontario. Twelve images depicting three different foliage conditions with and without evergreen trees were used for the visual stimuli. The three foliage conditions were (1) trees in leaf with green foliage, (2) trees in leaf with orange foliage, and (3) leafless trees. Each condition was shown from several vantage points.
Students, age 9 – 14, completed Hahn's Short Version Revised Restoration Scale (SRRS) as images of the different planting designs were projected on a screen. The SRRS is a self-report tool targeting four dimensions of restoration: emotional, physiological, cognitive, and behavior. Sixty-six children completed the survey in its entirety.
Perceived restorativeness was calculated for each of the 12 scenes. The scene rated as most restorative depicted orange foliage, while the scene rated as least restorative depicted leafless trees. Scenes with orange foliage and scenes with green foliage were both rated significantly more restorative than scenes with leafless trees. In general, the scenes including the evergreens were not perceived as being more restorative than the scenes without evergreens. The one exception was the inclusion of evergreens in the scenes with leafless trees. Here, the scenes with evergreens were perceived to be significantly more restorative than the leafless tree scenes without evergreens. These findings indicate that seasonal changes in foliage and evergreen conifers can enhance the perceived restorative quality of schoolyard environments.
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