In full Bloom: How gardening soothes both body and soul

As the Bloom festival gets into full flow — albeit virtually — Gary Graham, Bord Bia Bloom show manager, shares his thoughts on the physical and mental health benefits of gardening

Fri, 04 Jun, 2021 - 12:00

The reason I was drawn to horticulture many years ago was because I could see and feel the positive difference when I worked outside surrounded by plants compared to being indoors in an office environment.

For those of us fortunate enough to have an outdoor green space, be it a rural landscape, or a garden we can all attest to the restorative qualities that it can have on our mood.

Gardening offers a huge range of physical and mental benefits through immersing ourselves in nature.

No matter how small your outdoor space, you can still inject an element of nature into a balcony or patio area with a range of indoor or outdoor plants of features and measure how your body responds to the environment.

HEALTH BENEFITS

I have been lucky to have had the opportunity to visit many hundreds of great gardens over the decades and those that work best are the gardens that draw me to a restful secluded green space —a space to sit and be attentive to nature which can calm the mind and restore the soul.

PSYCHOLOGICAL BOOST

There are proven psychological benefits to connecting directly with nature through gardening.

It is widely accepted that the colour green reduces stress and blood pressure levels in humans, and there is nowhere that green is in more abundance than a garden!

Growing a plant from seed to bloom is an extremely satisfying activity. It instills a responsibility on the gardener and most importantly it rewards one’s efforts.

Getting smaller hands involved can also raise a newfound appreciation for nature and its tangible results.

Children will be delighted to watch small seedlings develop into full bloom and there will be almost daily progress to see in a lot of cases!

THE GREEN GYM

We all know that physical activity is essential to good health, and regardless of the gardening task, the activity can focus your mind on the present while providing some exercise.

Even if it is just 20 minutes a day, you can choose a time that suits your schedule to take a break from any stresses or worries you might have while making a positive impact on your outdoor space.

Many gardening activities can provide a good cardio workout too.

Physical activities like mowing lawns or trimming hedges will increase your heart rate which will release endorphins so you will have a real “feelgood” factor afterwards.

Spending time outdoors is also so beneficial to our overall health.

We can breathe in better quality air in an abundance, and this is helped even more if there are nearby trees and plants which enrich the volume of oxygen available.

We can also get a healthy dose of Vitamin D through sensible sun exposure — something which many of us are lacking in in this country.

For more, see Bloom

OPENING

Mount Congreve Gardens in Co Waterford with 70-acre gardens and 16km of walking trails is now open to the public from Tuesday to Sundays from June 8 with a new nature trail for children.

Tickets can be pre-booked at Mount Congreve Gardens.