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Garden Wellness
Gardening without a Garden
As modern living accommodation becomes more compact, many people no longer have access to a garden of their own. Perhaps you live in a flat or apartment without any outside space or maybe your outside areas are paved or concreted. But just…
The Safe Way To Light Up
Bonfires are a great way to deal with garden waste and people love the thrill of gathering around a bonfire with family and friends. However, if you are planning to light a bonfire in your garden, it’s important to plan ahead as many…
How To Avoid BBQ Disasters
What better way to enjoy outdoor life than by inviting friends or family round for a tasty barbecue? With so many types available, from small kettle versions to gas-powered barbecues and tin disposables, there’s one to fit any size garden.…
Get Outdoors & Connect With Nature
There’s no substitute for fresh air and outdoor play to help children feel healthy and happy. Interacting with nature is invaluable to a child’s development in terms of self-esteem, self-confidence and good health. Children, increasingly,…
How Green Is Your Garden?
It’s natural to assume that gardening is one of the most eco-friendly pastimes. As long as you don’t go crazy with pesticides, artificial fertilisers or weed killers, then surely nothing could be greener than raising a few flowers and…
Could Getting Out in the Garden Help Your Kid’s Development?
Several times a week, Annikki Egolf, a Child & Youth Care worker with the Cariboo Chilcotin Child Development Centre Association (CDC) in Canada, goes outside with different groups of children, planting vegetables and flowers in their…
Reap The Benefits Of Edible Flowers
When planning your garden for the coming year, make space for plants that do double duty. Edible flowers look attractive and add extra interest and nutrition to side dishes such as salads. Even if you don’t have a particularly big garden,…
Think Deeply About Your Pond
Ponds are an attractive and interesting garden feature but they also pose a danger. If you have young children it’s recommended that you don’t build a pond until they are at least over the age of six, but it may be advisable to wait until…
Storing Fruit And Vegetables Correctly
Did you know that storing certain fruits and vegetables together causes them to spoil more quickly? It all comes down to ethylene gas. This odourless vapour is given off by fruit after they are picked. Some types of fruit produce much more…
Make Your Own Organic Pesticide
Insects and other undesirable pests are the bane of many a gardener’s life, but it’s possible to protect your plants using entirely natural insecticides you can make yourself using everyday household ingredients.All-purpose insect and pest…
Gardening A New Treatment For Depression?
Spending time outdoors in the fresh air is a great way to boost your mood and improve emotional wellbeing. As a result, mental health experts recommend gardening as a way to lift the symptoms of depression. As well as providing exercise and…
Grow Your Own Superfoods
Superfoods are among the most popular ingredients in television cookery shows, but what exactly makes a food ‘super’? Although there’s no standard definition, a superfood is generally agreed to be one that gives particular health benefits.…
Get Back to Nature: How to Create Your Own Garden Retreat
This bank holiday weekend, many of us hit the local garden centres, and were inspired to get our gardens in tip top shape for summer. However, if you missed out there’s still plenty of time to work on your little patch of heaven, no matter…
Plants That Help You Breathe Easy
Houseplants give off oxygen and help remove chemicals like formaldehyde, a common indoor vapour that can cause respiratory and neurological problems.
Here are a few plants that can help you breathe easier:
Aloe vera: This easy-to-grow,…
Attracting Wildlife To Your Garden
Part of the charm of any garden is seeing a wide variety of wildlife. Many creatures will make your garden their home, from birds and butterflies to bees and hedgehogs. Of course some creatures are not as welcome as others – few gardeners…
Little Green Fingers
Playing in the garden is great fun for children. But forget swings, slides and paddling pools – there’s nothing children love more than interacting with nature and helping with the gardening itself. Gardening is ideal for getting kids…
The Wellness Benefits Of Gardening
You may think of gardening as just a relaxing hobby, but it is often so much more. Aside from the obvious advantage of growing nutritious fruits and vegetables, it also offers an effective physical workout. As you stand, bend or squat,…
The Zen Garden
Zen gardens, also known as Japanese rock gardens, have a fascinating history dating back over a thousand years. The original versions involved creating a kare-sansui, or dry landscape, using rocks and stones. This type of garden was ideally…
Grow Garlic For Garden Wellness
When choosing what plants to grow in your garden, garlic is not the obvious choice. However, it can deliver a number of benefits - not only is it a delicious kitchen ingredient that can lower your cholesterol and blood pressure, it actually…
Topiary For Beginners
Topiary is the art of clipping and shearing shrubs and small trees into ornamental or abstract shapes. The term comes from the Roman words ars topiaria meaning ‘ornamental gardening’. It’s a creative and relaxing pastime and is perfect for…
Grow Anxiety-relieving Herbs
Aromatherapy is used worldwide to improve both physical and emotional wellness. Practitioners use plant-based essential oils to provide relief from various conditions including stress, anxiety and depression, insomnia, headaches and even…
Do Greener Cities Improve Residents’ Wellbeing?
Very recently the website ScienceOmega.com was able to report on the findings that well-maintained vegetation can help to suppress certain types of criminal activity in urban areas and cities. And yet more research in the journal!-->-->!-->-->…
Building A Bee-friendly Garden
Some people don’t like bees. The slightest buzz sends them into full-on screaming-and-arm-flailing mode. But although few gardeners would welcome a bee nest on their patch, there are some real advantages from inviting these fuzzy, buzzy…
Gardening For Wellness
Working in the garden is not just a relaxing hobby – as pastimes go, it’s one that offers distinct health benefits in addition to the obvious advantage of growing nutritious fruit and vegetables to eat.
It can be relaxing while giving you…
Gardening On A Budget
Even for those with the greenest of fingers, maintaining a garden in tip-top condition can seem like a financial luxury. Yet creating a beautiful garden needn’t be an expensive pastime if you take a frugal approach.
Where possible, grow…
Planning Your Garden Colours
Many studies have linked gardening with personal wellness. Planning, creating and maintaining your garden not only benefits your physical fitness and health, it also improves mental wellness by relieving stress, reducing anxiety and…
Exploring the Garden of the Heart in Steiner’s Homecoming
The Homecoming is an enthralling journey of vines and ivy that twists and turns its way into understanding the human soul.
The self-described “psychodrama” propounded by the novel's writer, Susie Steiner, looks into the mental state of…
How to Get Planting in the Garden When Spring is Too Cold
Climate change is one of the planet’s biggest challenges. On a much smaller scale, the changes in the climate and their effect on the weather pose a different sort of challenge for gardeners with longer winters, wetter springs and harder…
Top Keys to Keep Those New Trees Growing
Trees are a wonderful investment for any property and a piece of living history that will last generation after generation. While mature trees can be quite resilient, saplings and younger trees that have been recently transplanted could…
Five Great Ways to do The Gardening Without Pain
Many of us like to look after our gardens. This is especially true as we get older – having a garden that you can be proud of is a very satisfying thing. Of course while this can be a very rewarding experience it is also worth!-->!-->…