Gardening Goodness
By Caroline Knight
Gardening is great for both mental and physical health. First and foremost, the physical activity has many benefits, including helping with fitness, balance, strength and flexibility. Even if your health is compromised, moving around a thoughtfully planted outdoor space is valuable exercise and good for well-being.
Of course, injuries can happen too. It’ s common for people to cut themselves with secateurs and power tools, strain muscles and break bones. Meanwhile, gardens with steps, slopes, walls and uneven paving are more interesting but pose more hazards than flat spaces. It’ s all about maintaining an awareness of potential dangers. A handrail in a tricky part of the garden can become part of an attractive design, and awkward steps can be altered to create a change in levels that is easier to negotiate.
Grow your own Growing food is just one way to boost the health benefits of a garden, and it can provide great pleasure. You eat produce associated with few, if any, food miles and it can be chemical-free, if you choose to grow it without using sprays or artificial fertilisers. You can guarantee the freshness, meaning that nutrients are not depleted.
Now that August is here, the advancing year will limit what can be sown or planted, but there’ s still plenty of scope for growing salad crops, as well as some types of spinach and radishes. The latter are fast-growing and can be harvested in as little as three to four weeks.
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