Nurture with nature

Gardening is good for the mind, body and soul, as Gayle Ritchie learned when she visited some of the projects changing lives for the better across Courier Country

David Flood pushes a wheelbarrow along the garden path, whistling a merry tune.

Watching him in action, you would never suspect he suffers from severe anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

That’s because here in the community garden at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, David is relaxed and happy, the work at hand proving a welcome distraction from his condition.

“I love it here,” beams the 37-yearold. “It’s a chilled environment, you meet people with similar mental health issues and you learn new skills.

“There was a time when I was unable to leave the house for days and initially, I was petrified of coming here, but it’s just brilliant. I’ve got shaky hands because of my medication but gardening helps me concentrate and focus on jobs that need done.”

Proudly pointing out a colourful display of snapdragons he planted, Andrew Hay, 29, tells me the garden has given him a new lease of life.

“I used to play computer games all day and was so bored and lacking confidence,” he says. “I love getting out into fresh air and I’ve made a lot of friends here. It’s great for head space.”

The pair are members of Greenbuds, a project which supports people to access the outdoors as a way to improve mental health and wellbeing.

They are also part of a growing movement of therapeutic gardening schemes which is changing lives across Scotland.

The Greenbuds group is one of many which uses the community garden, an area that’s open to Ninewells staff, patients and the local community for exercise, recreation, recovery and recuperation.

It boasts wheelchair-accessible paths, herbaceous borders, vegetable, physic and sensory gardens, a polytunnel, a small orchard with wildflowers, a picnic area and children’s play area, and there are exciting plans to open a new garden room.

This will become the heart and soul of the area, offering a warm and relaxing haven away from the clinical environment of the hospital and crucially a place that can be enjoyed in all weathers.

Walking round the garden, I find Daniel (he prefers not to reveal his surname) working on his very own creation – a map of Scotland made out of stones and wildflowers.

The 24-year-old says landscape design has given him a huge sense of achievement and is “soothing for the soul”.

Other users include the Teddy Bear Club nursery, primary schools, children and adults with learning difficulties such as autism, amputees, groups from Maggie’s centre and Carseview psychiatric care unit, Dundee City Council’s Employment Support project and Tayside Substance Misuse Service.

Volunteer Penny Turner says she finds the space “absorbing”. “If you have a bad day and you’re feeling tired, the garden relaxes you and makes you feel happy,” she smiles.

Mary Colvin, senior practitioner in Public Health with NHS Tayside, says the garden is beneficial on many levels.

“It’s a good environment for stress release, for physio patients and for people who have received bad news.

“Patients with dementia and memory loss can find memories are triggered in the sensory garden. The varied surfaces, such as bark, are good for balance in people who’ve had strokes. Not so long ago, this was just scrubland and now it’s a place of peace and beauty.”