Wellness Gardens

Gardens can have such a positive impact on our well-being. Time outdoors with nature, sunshine, growing plants and tidying your garden space can help to improve your physical and mental health through extra hours of daylight, fulfilment, purpose and grounding. We can make simple changes in our own gardens and lives to benefit us, as well as our families, and create a peaceful haven in which to relax and unwind.

Thinking about what makes you feel calm, refreshed and happy is the best place to start. For me, being surrounded by greenery, hearing the gentle sounds of nature and grounding myself are the key elements to help boost happy hormones and reduce stress.

By Ruby Simpson, Garden Designer

When reflecting on your own garden’s impact on well-being, a good place to start is thinking about your plant selection. Fill your garden full of plants that you love. Find colours, textures and shapes that make you happy – blues, purple and whites are calming colours but we are all different. I love plants for lots of reasons but one of my favourite things is fragrance – strongly scented roses, the smell of jasmine filling the air on warm summer evenings and my all-time favourite shrub, philadelphus. Its simple, delicate flowers provide the most delightful perfume. Herbs are also a great addition – they satisfy all the senses and work well in containers or in mixed borders. Trees and climbers extend the greenery skywards, covering hard surfaces, increasing biodiversity and providing some dappled shade.

Also think about the sounds you like to hear. Do you love the sound of birdsong in the morning? Or perhaps you enjoy the gentle trickle of water? Planting trees and leaving food out for the birds will improve your chances of having a garden filled with birdsong. Installing a water feature (no matter how small and simple) will not only be good for wildlife but will create calmness through sound. Another idea would be to plant leafy shrubs or ornamental grasses which rustle beautifully on a breezy day. In my garden, I recently dug a tiny wildlife pond and added a small, simple fountain. I have bird feeders in trees and borders full of flowers for bees and butterflies. I love listening to the busy hum of a bumblebee on a warm summer’s day.

‘Grounding’, ‘earthing’ and ‘forest bathing’ are terms regularly referenced in discussions around mental health and well-being, although the concepts have been around for a long time. Grounding or earthing is the process of reconnecting with the earth to promote healing. Take your shoes and socks off, paddle in streams, walk on the grass or sand, lie on the ground, swim in the sea and physically connect your body and mind with nature again.

Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, is a Japanese form of eco-therapy, where you walk in a forest or woodland, being calm, quiet and present while observing the nature around you to boost your health and well-being naturally. However, spending time in any natural environment and consciously connecting your senses with your surroundings will do exactly that. Stay in the present moment, meditate, breathe deeply and take it all in – don’t let your mind wander off to worry about something else. Just bathe in the beauty of nature.