Venture into the garden and sow the seeds of healthywellbeing
Working in the garden doesn’t just improve our physical fitness, says our expert Agnes Stevenson. It gives our mental health a massive boost
Afew days ago while I was talking to Angela Smith, who works for the Royal Horticultural Society, she gave me a timely reminder.
“Bring your compost under cover now to let it warm up,” she told me.
“You wouldn’t like to put your feet into cold compost and neither do your seeds.”
Angela’s own compost has been warming up for several weeks in the greenhouse of her new garden in the hills above the Clyde in Renfrewshire.
Most of the time Angela works with community groups, teaching gardening skills and passing on her knowledge of growing plants, but over the past year she has also been developing her own garden on a one-acre plot that, until recently, was a field filled with sheep. Now it has raised planters; an orchard of apples, plums and pears; circular flower beds for growing cut flowers and a compost area, as well as a cosy cabin where Angela and her husband Adam can sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labours.
“So far we have planted 64 different trees and we have left a broad margin around the edge of the field untouched to see what kind of wild flowers will appear.
“I have seeds of things such as yarrow, which I will grow as plug plants if needed, but first I want to see what is already growing amongst the clover.”
Beginning a new garden is always exciting and I’m planning to visit Angela’s soon to see how it is coming along, but I won’t be her first visitor. A steady stream of friends and family has already been beating a path to her greenhouse for practical tips.
One of the things I love most about gardening is how it brings people together and it doesn’t matter what age you are or your level of gardening knowledge.
During the pandemic, Angela has been working with people
struggling with isolation, bringing them together in a safe way in order to encourage them to start growing plants.
“We really struggled to get the materials we needed to make planters, but then somebody had the idea of using the spare food trays from the local food bank and so we made mini gardens in them,” says Angela.
Her next project will involve working with similar groups in the north-east of Glasgow, teaching skills and encouraging people to discover how beneficial gardening can be for their wellbeing.
Any of us who do it regularly know time spent gardening always makes you feel better, even when your fingers are frozen solid and your bones ache from digging. It makes you pay attention to what is happening in nature and it fills you with anticipation for what happens next and at the moment I’m anticipating the appearance of my tomato seedlings, which I’ve just sown into pre-warmed compost, just as Angela suggested.