This Mother’s Day, we pay homage to Mums everywhere with the best of beautiful blooms. Let’s look at my top garden-inspired gifts you can give to the lady of the moment—Mother Nature.
Motherly love
One of the reasons we call it “Mother Nature” is because, just like our own mums, the natural world has a life-giving and nurturing quality. Through nature, we gain tranquillity, mindfulness, clean air, fresh food, and so much more.
For me and my kids, Mother Nature gives us access to wonderful wildlife, and the more you invite into your garden, the more it aids your efforts towards plentiful plants. These incredible creatures help the health of plants by keeping down disease and pests, so the circle of life supports itself. Plus, if there’s one way to get the kids outside, it’s by watching an abundance of birds & butterflies.
Once you scratch the surface, you’ll find that gardening and the way it connects us with nature is really spectacular. I work with the charity, Thrive, which uses therapeutic horticulture to change people’s lives. To find out more about how gardening can heal, visit thrive.org.uk.
Good-natured gifts
The rewards we gain from all things bright and beautiful are so important that I’m going to show you some simple ideas to give Mother Nature some much needed TLC:
Potted plants give you the brilliant benefits of a living plant in your home. Having roots in place means that the plant will go on displaying for the long haul and the plant will naturally clean your interior air too.
Homegrown harvests pack the biggest punch in the health department—for you and Mother Earth. A thriving veg patch means your ground gets planted regularly, which is really great for maintaining healthy soil and helps you eat fresher and nutritionally-packed crops.
Compost heaps take the old and transform it into something new and useable. Biodegrading food and household waste, like hoover dust or newspapers, is waste-free and gives you fertile soil to grow healthier plants.
Helping bees is such a simple way to have a big effect on your garden. It can be as simple as incorporating more bee-friendly blooms (which are usually blue or purple in colour, like lavender and buddleja) and then you can create some bee homes, which particularly benefit solitary bees.
Planting a tree will help to make a garden feel more established, but they’re also long-lasting growth to benefit generations to come. For small plots, stick to very slow growing trees like Acer Palmatum (Japanese maple).
Smart watering may sound simple but it’s something that’s often overlooked. By choosing your watering times carefully, there’s less evaporation and less waste. Keep in mind that healthy soils act like a sponge, absorbing water far more easily when it rains.
Keep soil covered because an empty patch of soil is no use to anyone. It’s always better to have a plant in-situ so that the vital topsoil isn’t damaged by rain and erosion. You might decide to keep weeds in place within beds and borders if need be. Some choose to grow cover crops during the winter to help, go for a legume (which are nitrogen-fixing), like peas or red clover, for best results.
Increasing wildlife in your plot will naturally help to reduce chemical pest control. Hedgehogs are avid eaters of slugs and a ladybird can eat 50 aphids a day!
Soft landscaping, like plants, rather than hard landscaping surfaces will help to reduce flooding. So, if you’re wondering what to do with that disused section of garden, keeping it wild will do wonders for your drainage and this will stop waterlogging in other areas of the garden.
With gifts like these, Mother Nature will feel nurtured and ready to gift you with thriving gardens that are fantastic and full of life.
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
Leave A Comment