The power of mindful gardening to reduce stress and nurture your mind
Words by Xenia Taliotis
Read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and you will meet Mary – an unloved orphan who finds the key to a locked garden on her uncle’s estate. Pushing aside the ivy creeping over the door, she goes inside and discovers a garden that has been neglected and kept locked for as long as she’s been alive. Stone by stone, weed by weed, she begins to tend it with the help of her seemingly physically disabled cousin, Colin. As the children work together to bring the barren patch back to life, all three blossom. The garden fills with flowers and birds, Mary’s shut-down heart opens up to love, and Colin’s withered body gains strength, his spine straightens and he walks.
The garden is, of course, a metaphor for the transformative changes happening to Mary and Colin. Its potential for growth and vitality, for rebirth and renewal, has lain dormant for a decade, suppressed by circumstance, just as theirs has. With care and nurturing, with consideration and with work, all are restored to wellness – a beautiful illustration of what humans can do for gardens, and what gardens can do for us.
Gardening is good for you
Gardening, on a little or large scale, in pots or plots, in window boxes or wide open plains, as a solitary pursuit or a sociable community exercise, is good for our health – so much so that Simon Stevens, CEO of NHS England, has suggested that GPs should prescribe it instead of anti-depressants.
The evidence certainly stacks up: the New Economic Foundation, which is striving for a fairer, more sustainable and just society, has identified five key activities that promote mental, physical and emotional wellbeing, all of which gardening fulfils: it’s a great way of being more active, learning new skills, connecting with others, becoming more in tune with nature and the world around us, and giving to others, be that by offering neighbours seeds or produce, lending them a watering can or helping them to mow their lawn.
Beyond that, gardens are also the perfect prism through which to view life. In each one is carried the vital continuum of birth and death and countless opportunities to focus, to zone not out but in, and
to contemplate. In other words, each one presents fertile
ground for mindfulness, for being absolutely in the moment, and connecting all the senses – touching, smelling, seeing, tasting and hearing – with nature.
“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; and above all, it teaches trust.”
Horticulturist Gertrude Jekyll
Ark Redwood, author of The Art of Mindful Gardening and head gardener at Chalice Well, Glastonbury, has looked after and planted the landscape around the holy Red Spring for nearly 20 years. Though he may have a head-start on the rest of us – in as far as he is immersed in an environment that is already meditative and therefore conducive to existing in the present – he points out that since mindfulness comes from within, it can be applied to any form of gardening.
“There are no mindful gardens,” he says, “only mindful gardeners. When you give your full attention to the process of preparing the soil, of selecting your seeds, bulbs and seedlings, of sowing, growing and watering, of providing the right conditions for shade-loving or sun-worshipping or thirsty plants, you are being mindful.”
Likewise when you allow your brain to listen to your senses. “Mindfulness is about paying attention,” continues Ark. “It’s about being aware and keeping the channels of communication between your sensory organs and your mind unclogged by other distractions so that you notice what’s going on around you.”
Awaken your senses
Whether you’re outdoors cultivating a huge garden, or inside tending a pot of herbs, the important thing is to be conscious; your skin and nose, for example, will detect that change in atmosphere that heralds a rain shower or a shift from one season to the next, long before they arrive; your eyes will tell you that your herbs are showing signs of being too hot or dry or cold before they die.
Holly Farrell – whose engrossing Gardening for Mindfulness is packed with advice on how to create considered green spaces that benefit both you and various flitting, floating, flying, furtive forms of wildlife – agrees.
“The only thing you need to become a mindful gardener is your brain; it’s not what you garden that counts but how you garden, and that, like all else, requires practice. If you’re a novice, both as a gardener and when it comes to mindfulness, start slowly and gently.”
You may be easily distracted when you first practise mindfulness, says Holly, but don’t get disheartened – it takes time to train your brain, just as it does to train your body. When your mind drifts away from the present, focus on sensations – observe, listen, take deep breaths, feel the soil and the grass. If possible, take a barefoot walk – this will bring you into closer contact with nature, and also make you more aware of your walking.
“Working the earth is so ingrained in our evolution and psyche that even those who have never gardened can find familiarity and comfort in tending to plants,” Holly says. “If you’re new to gardening, start with one
or two plants and grow from there. In time, you will become more green-fingered and will more easily achieve that joyful state of flow when your whole being becomes totally absorbed in what you are doing.”
For award-winning landscape designer Alexandra Noble, who has created a continuous-path ‘Health and Wellbeing Garden’ for this year’s Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, the art of mindful gardening lies in creating a space that makes you happy; a space where you can relax and connect with each one of your senses individually; and a space where you can work with and learn more about nature. Her intention for her Hampton Court project was to “construct a mindful ‘room’ with a hedge on two boundary edges to act as an enclosure and to encourage introspection”.
Inside, there is a continuous path that has no beginning or end point. “The very act of moving through the space, experiencing the different scents, colours and structures of the plants should bring people into a state of unforced mindfulness,” says Alexandra.
“The garden is supposed to offer respite from the hectic activity of the rest of the show,” she explains. “My plant selection was very purposeful because I wanted to create a sensuous garden. Each flower, tree, shrub and grass was chosen because of the way it looks, smells, sounds, tastes and feels. I’ve used lots of mint varieties, parsley, lemon yellow fennel, angelica, and I’ve created a chamomile seat, where people can relax and reflect on the beauty around them. That, for me, is what mindfulness is about.”
“It’s not what you garden but how you garden, and that, like all else, requires practice.”
Holly Farrell
Getting started
From what to plant to how to plant it, discover the secrets to mindful gardening – no matter how big or small your canvas.
1. Mindful gardening is all about stimulating the senses, so whether you are working with a large plot or a couple of pots, think about what will engage your interest and bring your mind back again and again. If you have the luxury of a whole garden, sketch a design with a rough idea of where you will divide your space into separate ‘rooms’ using a trellis, hedge or fence, for instance. If you live in a small flat that has no outside areas, consider planting a terrarium. The mere act of layering your soil and compost, and of selecting your plants, is mindful. A terrarium, says Holly Farrell, is a “world in a jar, an ecosystem in miniature”.
2. Creating a mindful garden is about ensuring that everything can be noticed, from the tiniest flower head to the most softly fragranced plant. Holly recommends planting passion flowers, purple sage, wisteria and Swiss chard for sight; clematis, narcissus, nemesia and herbs for scent; grasses for sound; sea kale, Japanese bitter orange and statice for touch; and fruit, veg, herbs and edible flowers such as cornflowers and evening primrose for taste.
3. Work with nature, not against it, and always plant with intention. Choose your plants carefully and give them what they need in terms of light, water and soil conditions. Placing a sun-loving plant in a north-facing garden will only lead to disappointment.
4. Your garden is not just for you, but also for wildlife. Leave a patch untended for hedgehogs, hang a bird feeder in a tree – even if you only have access to communal gardens – and fill pots with wallflowers, geraniums and borage for bees.
5. If all else fails, and you have nowhere at all to garden, consider joining a community gardening or orchard scheme. The People’s Trust for Endangered Species is a good place to start (www.ptes.org), or you can volunteer with the Royal Horticultural Society (www.rhs.org.uk), the National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk) or the Wildlife Trusts (www.wildlifetrusts.org).