Gardening is therapy for Anxiety

[Carnation]

It ticks all the boxes for me. :)

Fresh air
Gentle exercise
Getting close to nature
Lovely scents from the plants and flowers
Nurturing and watching things grow
It helps you in your first steps to the outside world again
Touching the earth
Creating focal points
Takes you mind off your Anxiety!

:yesyes:

[xBettyBoopx]

Nice one carnation:yesyes::yesyes:

[PanchoGoz]

Have always found this to be so. My summer spent gardening for a summer was the happiest time of my life. Same goes for depression.

[jadedreams]

Very nice and I agree wholeheartedly. Spring is one of my favorite times when the outside comes back to life.

[lleo2211]

I certainly agree, It's the best thing I can do when I get home from work to calm down and empty my mind of nasty thoughts.

[debs71]

I agree, Carnation.

Mind you, I need to be a bit more active outdoors this year. I live with my parents and my Mum loves gardening - especially planting - so I am a bit lazy and leave her to it, but I am resolved to get stuck in this year. We are moving house shortly, so I have no excuse but to help Mum and Dad sort out the new garden!

I love gardens and nature. I find it very relaxing also to just sit inside and watch the garden, the birds, even the dodgy British weather. x

[Carnation]

Debs, may be you could come to some arrangement at the new place where you have your own patch? I agree about the British dodgy weather! :ohmy:

[debs71]

That's a great idea, Carnation!

I will have a wee chat with them about that...:yesyes::hugs::winks:xx

[Carnation]

Debs, I don't know whether you know, but I lived at my parent's house up until my breakdown and my Mum and Dad were very intent in claiming their back garden for their own domain. But, you could do something in pots or a feature like a herb wheel barrow garden or create some features for the birds. I have several boxes dotted all around the garden or what about a water feature? :)

[fishman65]

This is so true Carnation :) My Dad bought me a greenhouse last year for my 50th. I'm now growing plants galore from seed, lots of native wildflowers but summer bedding too.

In 2014 I dug out a pond and this spring we have tadpoles. I was so pleased. Gardening is something anyone can do. Even if people live in high rise flats they can buy a few tubs for a balcony. Plants don't judge us, they just respond to TLC and reward us with colour and fragrance. Some (like nasturtiums) actually thrive on neglect. I would recommend gardening in a heartbeat :)

[xBettyBoopx]

I live in a council flat but have a small piece of garden to look after. When my beautiful cat died well 7 years this August.........lets just say i started a little garden and so look forward to putting summer plants in etc. This is from last year I think:-

[Carnation]

It looks lovely BettyBoop. :)

[Carnation]

Everything is growing that I planted a month ago. :yesyes:
Tomatoes, beetroot, lettuce, onions and potatoes.
(My first time except for the tomatoes).

I am also in the process of re-landscaping the garden; any ideas for a centre piece?
I am also slowly turning the shed in to a seaside beach-hut. (Then I'm moving in). :D

[fishman65]

How about a pond Carnation? Liners are much cheaper these days and good GCs stock a wide variety of water plants.

Congratulations on the veg. I've grown tomatoes over the last two years but didn't bother this time as it was only me eating them :lac:

---------- Post added at 16:25 ---------- Previous post was at 16:22 ----------

What a gorgeous flower bed BettyBoop. It lifts the spirits to grow plants doesn't it :)

[Carnation]

Never thought of that fishman65, that's worth thinking about. :)

[MyNameIsTerry]

Very nice, BettyBoop. http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/spring/t117007.gif (http://yoursmiles.org/t-spring.php)

Carnation, yes a pond would be nice. A little bit of work with cleaning them out (pond filters, getting the excess slime off the walls, leaves off the bottom, etc) but a really nice thing to have. A few fish and a fountain too. We have a pond and a natural waterfall my dad built. Watch out with koi carp though, they sometimes jump out like a kamikaze pilot!

I bought my dad a solar powered pond aerator a few years back to add to it. It keeps the water nice and fresh.

You could always add some nice lights to it as well and ornaments.

Make it a bit of a project. They are nice to sit next too.

Gardening is certainly a good thing to do. The best thing I ever really did in my work life was a part time job with my dad for a few weeks on Sundays. Good honest work and slept well after too. It felt like something was achieved, unlike the paperwork and endless meaningless dirge of the numbers in office work.

We have lots of wildlife in our back garden. We get a good selection of different bird life and always have a fair few families of sparrows so we get a lot of babies which is nice to see. We have also had a robin in the garden for about 5 years, different ones some years, and one year we had a mated pair with their baby.

We also get frogs with having a pond. We even have one form of lizard. I looked it up and it was a rare one too. Very tame, could pick them up and leave them on your hand.

[Gatsby]

Agreed, not wholeheartedley thought atm. Currently in the process of clearing a large part of the garden which has been taken over by blackberry bushes. I am slowly clearing this to make space so i can build a run for the cat.
Gardening is ever so rewarding even though i wasn't saying that last month when i did my back in. Cant wait till the weather warms up and i can enjoy it fully, i need to get more fairy lights, i LOVE fairy lights dangling from the fences/trellis/trees/everywhere.
RE your centerpiece, how about a fire pit? It's something i've been looking into, i love my chimnea but it doesn't kick off enough heat. I'm imagining a little circle of paving/aggregate and a lovely big pit in the center, i would love some fixed benches there as well, but love the idea of being able to pull the lounge chairs around it, a lovely focal point and something that is needed for those late summer nights when the temp drops.

[Carnation]

I love all the ides and want to do them all! :)
I especially like the fairy lights idea. I do have quite a lot of solar powered lighting already in the form of jam jars hanging on hooks, ornamental owls and those ones you stick in the ground that look like a airport runway.
I hate the dark in the garden at night.
The plants are starting to excel in growth now, so all we need now is some nice sunny days.

[MyNameIsTerry]

How about building a beach? :winks:



http://img1.sunset.timeinc.net/sites/default/files/image/2004/07/build-beach-x.jpg

[Carnation]

Yeah, like that one Terry. :):yesyes::D

[Plaidlaid]

I agree completely. Having my fingers in the soil is a truly grounding feeling.

[edwardpnunez]

Being close to nature , really makes you calm.

[Carnation]

My crops have been disappointing this year.
A few of my fellow gardeners have also had a few problems, they think down to the cold spring snap and the changeable weather pattern.
BUT, my tomatoes are doing ok. So I must be an expert tomato grower. :D

Not forgetting my cosmos plants, which are now 6ft tall!

---------- Post added at 11:53 ---------- Previous post was at 10:02 ----------

Oh yes, and I have also grown 'Carnations'. :)

[HalfJack]

I love gardening too! :yahoo:
Gets me outside and distracted. Feel a bit like a fairy bobbing around flowers and butterflies.
Growing things from seed can be so rewarding as well.