Do you believe that plants, gardening and nature have a positive impact on our mental and physical wellbeing?
We’ll updating the running total twice a day, combining all the results from the website, Twitter and Facebook.
Total as at 5PM is:
YES – 12,467
NO – 64
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.
I’m in Cape Town, South Africa and have a gardening task every morning since lock down and I’m so grateful that I have a garden. I also take photos and do a daily gardening post on my Face Book page.
You are in the most beautiful place I have been to in the world. The plants on top of table mountain are beautiful
I have felt much better being out working in my garden. I suffer from depression. My garden has been neglected since I had a breakdown a few years ago. It is looking so much better now.
I have been shielding as I had cancer treatment so not allowed out for at least 12 weeks. I find being out in the garden and planting and admiring plants and flowers in my garden really gets me outside and helps with me not feeling so fed up and feeling quite low in the house.
Fabulous idea. I think I will do that too
Plants give me hope and make me feel alive. They are a welcoming respite on tough days
As a sufferer of depression, I know that plants and gardening are essential for my mental health.. Digging in clay soil helps my physical health too, as does all the steps I take as I work in my garden. Then there’s the carrying of the watering can! I just couldn’t imagine a life without a garden. It helps with my mood and motivation.
I too manage depression, i can’t convey the pure joy & excitement of my hands in the soil planting seeds, nuturing them & watch them explode into the most beautiful of plants. I have found gardening to be the best therapy for my mental health, you can just lose yourself.
Gardening certainly lifts my spirits. Fresh air, song of birds. Spotting insects and the beauty of flora and fauna, a reminder of the wonders of nature. A rest from the hubub and turmoil of modern life.
Definitely kept me sane over the past month
Plants give me hope and make me feel alive. They are a welcoming respite on tough days.
Yea I do it’s good for mental health. Growing plants veg. And keeps your mined active
What better place to be then sat in your garden listening to the birds sing sat looking at all the different plants that you cared for good for your mental well being breathing in the fresh air
Brings back memories of who gave you the plant or where you smelt it for the 1st time
I only have a balcony but my tropical plants mean the world to us and to be fair it just wouldn’t be the same without them
Gardening, sowing and growing new plants was a help when I lost my wonderful husband, 56, almost 10 years ago. I’ve not had a chance to walk much in lockdown since the days in the garden are long, energetic and fruitful.
I love gardening, especially when it’s all grown, I feel really proud of what I have achieved, the smell of the flowers and bring able to use the veg and herbs blissful
I certainly do believe this. Nothing beats the feeling of nurturing your plants the whole garden. Then the results are just so beautiful & enjoyabe it just does your heart good. I love it & all the gardening programmes available.
My garden jobs are keeping me sane in this lockdown, it has also become my face place to meditate
Stay safe everyone
To get out in the garden and potter about looking at the different colours and smelling the different fragrances from my herb garden definitely helps calm my mood and relax me.
I love growing chilli peppers and then using them in cooking & cocktails!
Plants help me massively and I love to watch the bees, butterflies and birds in my garden and in my neighbours gardens too. I love your positive, cheerful and colourful posts which are full of great advice so thank you so much
Plants give me hope not just for mental health, but also for all the Birds and Bees that need them to survive with out the Bees we as humans would not survive , with out the Birds the world would be so quiet and dull .
As each plant blooms or seedlings shoot or trees spring into leaf it shows me a sign of new life and hope.
Gardening eases the stress at end of the day
Gardening for me, as well as a joy, is truly therapeutic. Once involved in a project, whether it’s weeding, cutting the grass, snipping or planting I become a new person. I garden instinctively, I’m no expert but it’s great all the same and I highly recommend it.
My garden is my release , I am with nature , just so relaxing , been pricking out all my little seedlings soon have a garden full of colour and wild life x
Nature is so important to me. I believe that it is a sign of God if you are a believer and of a higher being of some kind if not. It is so utterly amazing and complex and indeed vital for our survival. When you see what happens to a caterpillar through the stages to a butterfly, it is just unbelievable and beautiful.
My garden is what got me through the grief of losing my husband and soul mate he was 61 when he died I was 53 some 6 yrs ago it was essential for my mental health and continues to this day
Almost exactly the same words I’ve just used for the same tragic situation, Susan. All the best to you wherever you are, Anne X
I have seen more wild flowers and more wild life this year so far than for many decades, it’s like taking a step back in time when I walk my dogs these days and I have been walking the same fields for 46 years and suddenly there is colour everywhere, it makes my heart sing.
When I am in the garden I feel closer to my darling husband it is where we spent lots of time enjoying a glass of wine after having a good day gardening
100% gardening helps with mental health! I suffer with really bad anxiety and since lockdown has been really bad. The only thing that helps me calm down is when I’m in the garden. It’s my happy place and spend all day outside when I can! Luckily we’ve had beautiful weather so lots have jobs have been done. But I do think even if your having just a down day a few hours in the garden or around plants helps in so many ways xxx
I love my garden, and even though it’s hard work especially after the winter season, but once I see it coming together I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I just cut myself off from the world and it’s like a different world out there. It is definitely worth it.
The renewal of life in the garden every Spring is something that moves me every year! Seed growing planting out and flowering gives me so much pleasure and keeps me sane in this mad world!
I love gardening, I have 3 greenhouses and a 15 foot polytunnel, with an 8 foot hotbed for growing plants from seed.It is amazing watching plants growing from seed, and nurturing plants before planting out into the garden. I grow plants for my 2 sons who are also keen gardeners. I fill my front garden with various kinds of annual flowers, it gives so much pleasure to passers by in the community.
My garden is my pride and joy and I love it. Each day it puts a smile on my face. I look forward to stepping out and tending to my plants on daily basis.
It reminds me of magical days spent helping at Chelsea and Hampton Court flower Shows David !!! Thank you this is my favourite time of year when nature bursts on our senses . Gives me joy !
Just to see a plant appear from last year makes me feel so good
When I am in the garden, it makes me feel close to God, and I give thanks to God for all the wonderful beautiful plants he gave us as well as the birds, the bees, the butterflies, even the creepy crawlies,slugs and snails, for they all rely on the nutrients of the plants and soil – it is a natural life cycle. Gardening makes me feel good to be alive.
I have a few plants in the porch. My pinks have just started to flower, nothing makes you happier than when a plant flowers again or new ones put up their little shoots.
Gardening gives you a feeling of satisfaction that you have a achieved a good job being in the fresh air and planting seeds and potted plants and
watching them grow and blossom and especially when you have fruit and vegetables the taste is more flavourful and healthier-organic. Just gathering the fruits if your labour and creating different foods jams, chutney,pickles. Wonderful soups, fruit crumbles and other vegetable dishes. I have wild garlic and I put in salads, potato salads soups and make a pesto. There is so much to create and enjoy! :)
I live with mental illness so gardening is my saviour.My Anxiety melts when I am working the soil and listening to the birds singing. I have a wild garden too just for butterflies and bees. The great outdoors saves me
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow…….quote by Audrey Hepburn
Love the garden it means so much
My garden is my haven of delight throughout this lockdown i have spent part of every day in my garden
I believe any passion you have in life, will keep you sane, even in the toughest moments, but I also believe if you have a skill, and you can use it to brighten someones day, needed or not, it will have an impact on you and/or the recipients. I use my limited gardening skills to help my self isolating neighbours, remember colour can brighten anyone’s day!
We are in lockdown in New Zealand and I would have loved to see garden centres listed as an essential service just because of the benefits of gardening on mental health. As a nurse working in these weird times the garden is my biggest stress reliever. In retrospect should have stocked up more before lockdown
Gardening is the most therapeutic thing to do during this lockdown even if I haven’t a clue what I’m doing
I just simply love my garden, gardening, everything to do with it.
Love plants. Do plan to from seeds.. meke me feel good in the garden to watch 5he plants growing. Have only a small garden.. I would love to have some exotic seeds.
Being in the garden while this Covid 19 is happening everywhere gives me some comfort and I am enjoying the sunshine, I am trimming the bushes and trees and trying to make the garden tidier. I have managed to get some plants, so I am making the garden more colourful and hopefully these will grow well over the summer. The Vit D from the sunshine will also improve my immune to help me through these uncertain times.
Without a doubt gardening heals in so many aspects. It stimulates hope, excitement and fullfilment. More than ever I believe that we are all meant to be going back to the root of life & producing our own food with joy. Likewise having a flower garden or rockery or only green plants, it doesn’t matter.. they are all our heaven and resource for life.
My garden is my favourite place to be especially in spring as the trees start to bud and plants start to pop up. The garden is a place for grounding yourself and meditating plus listing to the birds it’s peace and heaven
Gardening is the great escape! If you have a garden it’s a bonus but even a window box, trough, planter or pot give that interaction with nature and the natural world. They all help us, attract wildlife and benefit pollinators. You can even grow veg in a pot! Get out and just do it!
The garden created by GOD , His place of showing miracles. Amen.
I have an allotment and being able to spend a couple of hours each day there has kept me sane. I grow tomatoes, peppers and chillies in my greenhouse and usually grow enough other produce to share with my neighbours.
I firmly believe that God created me and loves me. I also believe that the reason he placed Adam and Eve in the garden is that He loved them, too, and knew that they needed an occupation – tending that same garden. What better place to start humanity than in a garden? Sadly, they screwed it up but that doesn’t prevent me from trying to continue the heritage and grow and admire the amazing results. Who else could create a pansy with a face? A red rose with amazing fragrance? Plants that provide food? Often people refer to “the oldest profession” – but they have it all wrong. Gardening was first.
Bright flowers & plants you’re sure to find, Radiate pleasure & raise the mind.
Here in Oregon, USA, we call it ‘Woods Therapy’. Sometimes, you need to return to the forest to restore the calming effect of nature to your mind, body and sole. Gardens can have the same restorative properties. There is magic in nature…in the turning of soil, the budding of flowers, and in the slow growth of the mighty Redwood. So aim for the path less traveled, and take time to smell the flowers. Plant a garden and let nature restore your health. Cheers!
Gardening helps with my depression and helps to switch off from the pain I live with
love my garden grow some veg always worth the wait at the moment I have red and white onions abve the ground
I don’t think I could have coped with the lockdown if I hadn’t had my garden. I truly believe that being in nature is good for our souls and our health. I’ve got a couple of books on this subject, and it’s spot ok
I love sitting our in our garden and just relaxing and listening to all the birds, also closing my eyes and not think of anything just relaxing the time away so wonderful.
Where would l be without my garden ..
Lost ,
I suffered a serious episode of depression and anxiety in my late 30’s and was suicidal.
I turned to gardening/horticulture and without a shadow of doubt, the touch of the soil between my fingers and the therapeutic healing that occurred, saved my life. Growing plants from seeds and cuttings and watching them grow stronger gave me the strength in my own life to battle on. I strongly believe that gardening should be available to everyone. In these hard times, being able to sit in a garden with bird song, breath in the fresh air is so important. Walking in the great outdoors always lifts my spirits.
I have just spent yet another afternoon in this beautiful weather working in the garden, with nothing but birdsong to listen to, and all this current situation just disappears into the ether! I’d encourage anyone to have a go at growing something, even if it’s only in a pot on your windowsill; you might just catch the gardening bug!
Gardening, weeding is therapeutic. Love the summer time in the garden. Put some seeds in the ground. Nothing yet. I think they’re old seeds from before. They only think I can see is the pumpkin.. lot of green to eat afterwards as I don’t get pumpkin. I use the tender leaves. The young 6 to 12 inches shoot which i clean(peel ) the outside strings and then cut thenand cook(fricasé). Can be eaten with rice or chapati or pitta bread.
Having a garden has certainly changed my life for the better. I cannot imagine not having one now, and there’s nothing better than having a cup of tea in the morning and watching and listening to the birds feeding. This is especially therapeutic for me now as I’m shielding till at least June.
I’d certainly be a wreck without it and now growing veggies and fruit along with everything else I’m amazing myself on a daily basis.
YES,YES,YES!!!
Yes
Yes, yes, yes from me. The allotment is keeping me sane!
Yes very much so. I set up Hortic Therapy a social enterprise that delivers gardening sessions to senior citizens with a focus on people living with dementia and stroke recovery. The difference I have seen is amazing and very rewarding.
Mentally for me gardening is really important and the sense of pleasure I get from seeing a plant I have grown from seed is immeasurable. I’m lucky to have a fair size garden and an allotment within walking distance. My children come to the allotment with me and they are connected to nature and understand how to plant things and look after them. I wish they would reopen the garden centres so I could buy other bedding plants although I have grown much more from seed than I normally would.
I love gardening because it is such a pleasure to enjoy a space that you have planned and to see it mature. Also to see plants thrive in that environment. This time of year perennial plants can look dead and ;then you spot new shoots emerging. Spring bulbs suddenly appear and you get a surprise sometimes having forgotten new bulbs you planted in the autumn. Best of all though are the aromatic shrubs, Thyme, Marjoram, Mint and Rosemary (not forgetting my Curry plant. The nicest thing about a garden is the wildlife it attracts, we are lucky enough to have Red Squirrels visiting and a wide range of birds from Spotted Flycatchers to Long Tailed Tits. Peacock butterflies have emerged earlier than normal this year. In August we have Red Admirals, Painted Ladies and Tortoiseshell Butterflies joining the Peacocks.
Yes they make me smile
Yes, it definitely does. I have spent more time working in my garden these past few weeks than ever before and am extremely pleased with the result. I sit with my morning coffee and watch and listen to the birds as they are feeding. Nature at its best.