Five Simple Gardening Tasks to Enhance Your Mental Wellbeing
Reconnecting with nature through gardening can provide significant relief from issues such as burnout and anxiety, offering a therapeutic escape from daily stresses.
From Burnout to Bloom: A Personal Journey
Kathy Slack, a former high-flying advertising executive, faced severe burnout, anxiety, and depression in her mid-thirties after moving from London to the Cotswolds for a better work-life balance. Instead of finding peace, she endured a lengthy commute, leading her to resign and spend months bedridden. Her recovery began when her mother encouraged her outside, sitting her among overgrown vegetable beds with a cup of tea.
"It wasn't a huge moment where I went, 'My God! Nature! I'm cured!' but it made me feel slightly less awful," Slack recalls. Watching weeds, worms, and bugs calmed her, and scattering seeds led to radishes and lettuces sprouting weeks later. This transformation from seed to edible plant captivated her, blending her interest in food and cooking with newfound solace.
Slack, now 47, documented her journey in the book Rough Patch, leaving advertising to work as a fruit picker and later pursuing cooking, teaching, and writing. She credits gardening with saving her life, emphasizing its role in clarifying values, fostering creativity, and providing calm. Today, she tends to 20 metres of growing space in raised beds, an allotment, and borrowed plots from neighbours.
Five Spring Gardening Tasks for Wellbeing
Slack recommends five simple spring activities that can boost mental health, offering practical steps for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike.
- Sow Seeds: Start with radishes and peas in March, ideal for window boxes, pots, or sheltered spots. Radishes grow quickly, offering instant gratification, while peas are hardy and can be harvested as shoots or full-size peas. This process inspires wonder at nature's transformations.
- Get Your Hands Dirty: Handle compost by turning bins or spreading council waste compost over beds or pots. Research shows touching soil with bare hands releases serotonin, the 'happy hormone', through contact with Mycobacterium vaccae bacteria, enhancing mood.
- Plan Your Growing Year: Browse physical seed catalogues to dream and plan, fostering hope and excitement. Slack finds this tactile experience more inspiring than online browsing, helping set intentions for the season.
- Get Physical: Engage in outdoor tasks like wheelbarrowing compost or weeding to release endorphins. Even light pottering can be therapeutic, combining exercise with mindfulness in nature.
- Grow Windowsill Herbs from Seed: Cultivate herbs like basil on windowsills to add homegrown touches to meals. This small achievement uplifts spirits, turning simple dishes into personal creations.
Slack's story and tips highlight how gardening can serve as a powerful tool for mental wellbeing, encouraging others to find peace and purpose in nature. Her book, Rough Patch: How A Year In The Garden Brought Me Back To Life, is available in paperback from Robinson.
