Does seeing/working your garden help you relax

[rary]

I am sitting in my conservatory catching up on Chelsea and was watching a bit about a garden to relax in and thought I am very fortunate to have that even just looking out helps me relax, so here are some photos from my couch



I am usually out in the garden at this time but tonight I felt like having a rest hence indoors now, but even working in the veg garden helps me relax, do to relax in your garden or is it something that you have to do

[mcdood]

Only the second year of my allotment but every time I go there, which at the moment is just about every day, it puts a huge smile on my face. Makes me relax mentally but ache physically

[rary]

Should have added the tree to the left behind the greenhouse in the first photo is my indicator for when it is safe to plant out

[Small pumpkin]

Looks very nice from your couch rary
The garden definitely helps me relax, 90% of the time ( the hose pipe winds me up ).

[mcdood]

( the hose pipe winds me up ).

That's arse about face

[SarrissUK]

The garden and the allotment is calming and definitely the best therapy

[happyhumph]

Bit different for me as it's my job, and sometimes at the end of the day I don't want to deal with another garden!!

Saying that, the veg really does relax me (when it's going well), and when I remember to turn my gardener head off and just enjoy it, it's wonderful.

[veggiechicken]

There seem to be some folk who do not find their garden relaxing - the ones who only see the diseased leaves, or the weeds or the "pests" or whose rows aren't straight.
Fortunately, I'm not one of them.
Watching butterflies, listening to bees and birds, stroking leaves, smelling flowers, watching seeds germinate, feeling the warm sun on my skin, losing all sense of time passing, how can a garden not be relaxing?

[Snadger]

Bit different for me as it's my job, and sometimes at the end of the day I don't want to deal with another garden!!

Saying that, the veg really does relax me (when it's going well), and when I remember to turn my gardener head off and just enjoy it, it's wonderful.

Before I took early retirement I was Head Groundsman at a local University. I love gardening as a hobby partly because my main job was dealing with football/rugby pitches etc with very little work on flowers/ shrubs and no work at all with vegetables... The chargehand gardener at Uni used to say he wouldn't have an allotment because it would be just a continuation of his daily tasks

[Snoop Puss]

Definitely relaxing. Hard work at some times of the year, but so creative and enjoyable. Just love seeing new things grow. In fact, I probably get more pleasure from seedlings than I do from eating the results!

[Bren In Pots]

losing all sense of time passing, how can a garden not be relaxing?

The other morning i went out as usual to open my GH not sure what happened but an hour later I was still out there in my PJ's planting my peas.

[annie8]

Absolutely. I find myself standing at the bedroom window looking out at the garden. As well as thinking of all the things I do I also think I’m so lucky to have a garden. It’s only been three years so still quite new. I find that pottering about in the garden is a great way of recharging after a stressful day and I seem to lose all sense of time.

[Stan79]

On the whole i'd say yes.... BUT...

I put up a "lacking motivation thread" a couple of weeks back as the weather was getting me down and Monty Don and pics and posts on here were making me feel like i was behind everyone else which was making me stressed and therefore not enjoying what should just be a fun hobby! Do we have a "disaster" thread on here? As with most social media, people here will tend to only post their successes. Maybe time to promote our mistakes as well?

But yes, when i'm in the garden with the sun beating down, the birds tweeting so loud it is deafening and something you grew from seed is thriving... it's a great feeling. Sharing that feeling and teaching my kids about the great outdoors is the best feeling on the planet.

[1Bee]

Are you kidding me? It's not just relaxing, it's sanity-in-a-clod for me. I think too much, stress too much, multi-task too much, have children with additional needs and have a slight tendency to anxiety and depression. The gardening balances me, relaxes me and strengthens me.



I've been thinking lately about the different tasks in the garden and how they work for me. I absolutely love planning and laying things out, building greenwood structures, digging and cultivating. I think I don't like weeding, but I know that that activity relaxes me even though it's not a favourite.... from most relaxing to least relaxing is:-

Digging
Weeding
Building (just twiggy things like the den and bean tunnel)
Tying up and pruning
Planting out
Watering
Sowing

Planting out and sowing are only that low down the list because I find them fiddly and often forget to do something. The physical strain, rhythm and closeness to the soil of digging and weeding just hits the spot for me. Weird, isn't it?

[lottie dolly]

What a nice garden Rary,walking around the garden or plot is relaxing,see whats coming up,what wants a bit of attention,i often end up engrossed in something different i set out to do,as well as a few times of icannotbe arassed,and tired of family things,but in all great feeling,i like having my little plot away from home,as it gives me a different pleasure and a trip out the walls,