During a recent, and as always enjoyable gardening session, cutting the lawn, tending to the roses, watering (when it hasn’t been raining) the hanging baskets, harvesting the vegetables from the borders and vegetable patch whilst also planting snatch crops of salads such as lettuce, Spinach, Rocket and a little bit of propagation of the herbs from the herb garden; I started to wonder about the impact that our gardens could be having on our general health and wellbeing.
Recent research by Stockholm’s Karolinska University Hospital which was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine concludes that gardeners in general could enjoy a longer life expectancy, possibly due mainly to the positive benefits of the gentle exercise that they undertake, the clean fresh air, exposure to the sun which improves vitamin D and also the soil that we come into contact with, which helps to build our immune systems. Although these could be contributing factures, it could also be debated that it is the positive wellbeing that gardens and gardening brings into our lives that mentally, physically and visually enriches it.
If anybody who has had the good fortune to have visited the Russian city of St Petersburg they will know exactly what I mean by Visual wellbeing. St. Petersburg is a creation of utmost beauty which is not blessed by a stroke of geographical luck. As you travel from the grim industrial weary and dreary port, you enter into the city along the banks of the River Neva to be astonished by the beauty of an ensemble of eighteen century Baroque Facades mixed in with Neoclassicism of the nineteenth century all of which are built out of materials with a heavy hint of pastel colours which include Green, Blue, Rose, Grey and with a heavy splash of Yellow. All dominant colours that can be found in our garden.
This was initially implemented by the Emperor Alexander the First who reasoned that geographically the City would expect to receive rainfall at some stage during each day for a large proportion of the year and if it was not raining it would be snowing which dampened the spirits of the people. He believed that by creating a vision of beauty it would reduce stress and be emotionally and visually beneficial for the people who lived along the Neva. Even after the siege of WW2, which destroyed much of the city the damaged buildings were rebuilt to their original colourful façade.
My recent family trip into the old eastern block city lasted for only forty eight hours, now whether by coincidence or luck, our visit to the Venice of the North was not grim, nor did it rain as expected, neither did it snow. Maybe we didn’t notice because all we could see was beauty!
With the above taken into consideration and Tameside being geographically challenged resulting in the short summer months that we experience, June and for the most part of July being a wash out. I would like to suggest some ideas for an all year round feel good garden to be enjoyed even in the smallest of garden spaces. Shrubs- Hydrangea-Mop head tend to flower earlier than the Lace head but both are stunning in full bloom the more acidic the soil, the bluer the flower, less acidic the pinker the flower and just as attractive are the faded flower heads that stay attached to the shrub throughout winter.
Potentilla-yellow, red and white that flower from spring to autumn.
Roses- all varieties including old favourites Piccadilly and Queen Elizabeth which will give an abundance of mixed pastel flowers that will bloom for months. During milder winters we can also expect some varieties to still flower as late as December.
Buddleia- (Butterfly Bush) Lilac flowers in summer and as the name suggests, it is also attractive to pollinators.
Viburnium-early spring white flowers with berries to follow later in the year. Bedding Plants- spring, summer and autumn bedding (Take cuttings now from Geraniums to overwinter indoors).
Asteraceae’s including Cosmos, sunflowers and Daisy will grace any garden. Bulbs- Plant spring, summer and autumn varieties. These will provide colour into the garden for a large portion of the year.
Green is still a colour! –start to cut into shape evergreens like Box (Buxes, Supervenes), Yew (Taxus Baccata), Privet (Ligustrum Japonicum).Topiary is pleasing to the eye all year round.
Holly Bushes- (Ilex) An evergreen with attractive red berries even throughout the coldest of winters.
Start planting Heuchera- Berrie Smoothie,Tapestry, Marmalade, these will brighten up the garden patio or yard throughout the year and in particular the winter months when the change in colour is to be noted.
Happy thoughtful and therapeutic gardening.
Then who knows, maybe just maybe we might start to believe that it is not raining outside, it is only our gardens being watered!
