Grow better mental health

Reducing stress levels could be as easy as planting a seed.

According to a study by the Royal Horticultural Society, sowing seeds could relieve emotional tension by the same amount as eight mindfulness sessions.

In a four-year project, researchers planted ornamental plants in bare front gardens in a deprived part of Manchester. They measured the residents’ stress hormone cortisol before and after the dig.

At the beginning of the study, only 24 per cent had healthy cortisol levels, but afterwards, 53 per cent did – more than double.