You dig?

Ask gardeners what it is they love about the pastime and you’ll likely get a whole bouquet of answers. For some it’s the sense of achievement, from first breaking ground to proudly watching flowers bloom or picking fruit and vegetables ready for the table. For others it’s the pace, or lack thereof. The opportunity to forget the hustle and bustle of the modern world, ignoring the concrete, traffic, sirens, crowds and omnipresent screens in favour of the stems, shoots, and soils, the pinks and greens. The sights, smells and sounds nourish the soul as the natural cycles themselves nourish the earth.  Some love the close connection to attendant wildlife - the birds, the bees and the bugs, though perhaps not the slugs. Gardening can be an exercise in creativity and experimentation – a living, shifting canvas onto which we can paint our personalities, express our feelings and realise our idiosyncrasies.

An outdoor space is a project which can fill a lifetime, marked not by minutes or hours but seasons. Despite the on-demand cultural landscape, there’s no demanding a garden grow. It takes patience, care, attention and sometimes a little good luck. It’s a lesson in delayed gratification and any psychologist will tell you sometimes the most gratifying rewards are the hardest fought. The UK’s love affair with gardening appears to be in full bloom, with data suggesting over 40% of the population enjoy it as a hobby, some 27 million of us dedicating on average 2.2 hours per week to our outside spaces. Though particularly favoured by the over-55 set, all ages are getting their hands muddy with new gardeners sprouting up all over especially in the wake of the pandemic.

Whatever the reasons gardeners are able to articulate, many of the rewards for the pursuit go almost unnoticed or unappreciated, yet the activity is so rich in inherent benefits it’s now acknowledged as an actual form of healing, the terms “therapeutic gardening” and “horticultural therapy” widely used across the social, psychiatric and medical sciences and beyond.

Horticultural therapists exist specifically to use gardening as a therapeutic tool for improving physical, emotional and cognitive health, working alongside nonprofits, community programs, doctors and other healthcare providers to offer gardening as a supplement or even alternative to more traditional treatments and medicines. The idea of therapeutic gardening is rooted in ancient traditions. In ancient Egypt, gardens were designed for relaxation and spiritual renewal, with temple gardens seen as places of physical and emotional rejuvenation. Both Greek and Roman gardens had fragrant and medicinal herbs understood to support healing of the mind and body, whilst the Chinese philosophy of “Qi” or life-force emphasized the connection between ourselves and the natural environment, gardens seen as important spaces to achieve balance and their design instrumental in the flow of energy.

Similarly, the zen gardens of Japan were (and still are) the quintessence of this idea, promoting meditation and inner reflection for mental clarity. Tangentially, Japan is today a leading proponent of “forest bathing”, whereby time spent calmly in nature has been shown to benefit both mind and body. It’s something Japanese doctors frequently prescribe and it’s been proven efficacious.

Many of the physical benefits are obvious, as the act of gardening works various muscle groups in the body, encouraging strength, mobility, stamina and dexterity. At the more rigorous end of the scale are some of the labours exemplified by landscaping, such as digging, earth moving and packing, but the full spectrum of activity incorporates plenty of gentler exercises like weeding, harvesting, watering and pruning.

Especially helpful for conditions such as arthritis, or those recovering from injuries, these low impact activities help to maintain joint flexibility without over-straining the body, whilst the routine, repetitive nature of the work can be great for honing one’s thoughts and centring the soul. The mental benefits and correlative cognitive boost from horticultural therapy are well documented, as engagement with nature lowers stress levels and blood pressure, reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression and improving mood. The very act of caring for plants, especially when our efforts are rewarded in bloom, elicits a sense of purpose, hope and accomplishment, which promotes self esteem. All the while, the gentle, rhythmic practices involved in gardening prove a great distraction from negative thought patterns.

For a lovely, deep dive into gardening’s ability to heal, The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature by distinguished psychiatrist Sue Stuart-Smith will remind you of the ability of the fertile ground to, well, ground.

Additionally, for those experiencing loneliness or isolation, gardening can take on an emotionally fulfilling social aspect. Beyond the opportunity for tea, scones and a good gossip at the garden centre, the pastime encompasses numerous forms of social engagement which horticultural therapy capitalises on. Community gardens, school programs and social outreach programs all use green spaces as a means to foster inclusion, communication and teamwork. The peaceful, natural setting and sense of shared purpose encourage opportunities for intergenerational bonding and cross-cultural integration whilst the fruits of the labour, often made available for the wider public to enjoy, can be a sense of great personal pride to the individuals involved.

The healthcare and rehabilitation sectors have become increasingly engaged, with hospitals, nursing homes, mental health facilities and even prisons leaning into the benefits of gardening to promote recovery, both physical and mental. Studies have shown this type of therapy is particularly effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic conditions and long term illnesses, providing respite from long-term hospitalization and similar forms of confinement, voluntary or otherwise.

As the world hurtles forward with shifting cultural paradigms and new technologies, attentions fragmented by a million ever-changing diversions and stressors, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that it’s a focus on the natural world which has the power to re-root us to what’s important.