Ledbury Focus September 2019 Ledbury Focus September 2019 v2 | Page 41

table, where you can interact with
the natural world, learn how it
works. And if you’re immediately
thinking, ‘back strain,’ done
properly gardening can be of
great psychical benefit. There is
lifting, stretching, balancing - I’ve
become adept at that as I teeter
on large rocks to reach the back
of my alpine bed.
The garden is a good place to
practice mindfulness. Sitting in a
quiet corner is both peaceful and
rewarding. I find even weeding can
be relaxing; a mind emptying
exercise until you get stung by a
nettle of course. But seriously,
quietly working your way down
the borders pulling out groundsel,
deadheading or in the veggie
plot, harvesting your crops is one
of the easiest ways to destress,
especially if you meet a toad or a
frog sure in the knowledge it’s
eating some of your less desirable
residents.
Ledbury Focus

As a child my father gave me a
tiny space behind the garage
where I grew flowers. But I
nurtured far more in that little
patch and it’s lasted me a lifetime:
it was a fascination with wildlife
and learning about it.
There are 22 million gardens in
the UK; if they were all used to
their full potential might we be
happier, healthier people? Like
me children could learn about
the alchemy of a butterfly’s life
cycle, from egg to caterpillar to
chrysalis, to the most beautiful of
insects.
But above all, think of those
gardens as 22 million important
mini wildlife parks, places where
we can escape from our ‘devices’
and be at one with the natural
world.
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