Table 5.

Meaning of private gardens and public green spaces to 495 German residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

	Garden (n1 = 307)				Public green space (n1 = 240)
	Category	Explanation	Examples	Fr.	Category	Explanation	Examples	Fr.
1	Recreation	Expressing the notion that gardens are used as a recreational place	“recreation and relaxation”, “a possibility to enjoy the free time”	120	Recreation	Expressing the notion that gardens are used as a recreational place	“more recreation and leisure”, “to get the head free, to recover”	68
2	Freedom	Place of freedom	“freedom”,“a piece of freedom”	45	Nature	As a place of (getting in touch with) nature	“it means having a piece of nature and fresh air right outside my front door”, “park”, “forest”	59
3	Nature	Place of (getting in touch with) nature	“nature”, “sun”, “fresh air”	26	Freedom	A place of freedom	“freedom”, “without mask, freedom”	38
4	Work	Gardens as a place for work	“a lot of work”, “to build it”, “work”	18	Nothing	Expressing that public green spaces mean nothing to oneself	“nothing special”, “nothing at all”, “nothing”	18
5	Retreat	Place, where one can be alone and retract from others	“distance to neighbors”, “my island, my paradise”	13	Variety	Public green spaces as a place to experience some variety in the daily routine	“a change from everyday life”, ”see something else”	11
6	Family	Place, where children and the family can spend time (together)	“a possibility to spend time outside with my little child”, “family-happiness”	9	Negative aspects	Expressing negative association with being outside in green spaces	“stress”, “too many people”, “dirty”	9
7	Joy	Expressing that gardens give some kind of joy	“pleasure”, “beautiful sight”, “happiness”	10	Exercise	Using public green spaces for some form of exercise	“for me, running in the woods”	8
8	A lot	A lot	“a lot”, “everything”	9	Family	Place, where children and the family can spend time (together)	“Possibility to get out in nice weather and do something with the family”	4
9	Hobby	Opportunity to pursue a hobby and unfold creativity	“hobby”, “creativity”, “creative venue”	9	Normality	The notion that being outside provides some feeling of normativity	“a piece of normality”	3
10	Subsistence farming	Opportunity grow own fruits and vegetables	“reasonably healthy vegetables”, “to have vegetables and fruit that taste better and are mostly organic”	6	Health	health	“health”	3

¹Multiple answers possible.