A spot of gardening ...it’s just what the doctor ordered!

GArdenInG should be prescribed on the nHS to ease the symptoms of dementia and ward off the risk of heart disease, a report says.

the King’s Fund thinktank says GPs should make more use of Britain’s ‘love affair with gardening’.

the 65-page report, which was backed by ministers last night, calls on health boards to set up projects for the green-fingered.

‘Gardens are an extraordinary national resource,’ write the authors. ‘nearly 90 per cent of uK households have a garden and half the population are gardeners.

‘But we could do much more to nurture and maximise the contribution gardens make to enhancing health.’

the researchers trawled reports on the health benefits of gardening, and found extensive evidence that the pastime has a significant benefit for body and mind.

they pointed to studies showing regular participation can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and obesity.

It improves balance, helping to prevent falls in older people – a cause of major costs to the nHS. And it can reduce depression, loneliness, anxiety and stress.

Gardening also can help dementia patients, with one trial showing that six months of gardening resulted in a slow-down of cognitive decline over the next 18 months.

the King’s Fund team, which was commissioned by the national Gardens Scheme, wrote: ‘Gardens appeal to the senses – particularly touch and smell – which are important for people with dementia. Gardens and outside spaces also give people living with dementia access to natural light, which is important for the maintenance of circadian rhythms.’

A few hours in the garden is also a good way of exercising. the royal Horticultural Society calculates that half an hour of digging burns 150 calories, raking a lawn burns 120 and pushing a lawn mower burns 165.

report author david Buck, senior fellow at the King’s Fund, said: ‘there is a wealth of evidence that links gardens and gardening with a wide range of health outcomes.

‘We need to build on this and get it translated into policy and practice.’

Mary Berry, president of the national Gardens Scheme, said: ‘I have long been aware of the therapeutic benefits of gardening and visiting gardens and how being outside is so good for our wellbeing.