Gardening as Therapy
Having read Tim Richardson’s column in the Telegraph last week, I got to thinking. His subject was regarding the supposed health benefits of gardening. As always, his job as The Horticultural ‘Medlar’ was to scratch slightly at the veneer of a topic, revealing a base layer of healthy scepticism together with an alternative view on the subject. As always, he again did this rather too well, if you ask me. If the various contemporary approaches to health and well-being were to be ranked, a kind of therapeutic top ten, you would probably see the charts full of such hits as C.B.T, Mindfulness, M.B.S.R (Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction), the modern-day anti-depressant (SSRI’s) plus a whole range of Green Care approaches. Green Care could probably be summed up as any activity which uses the great outdoors (horticulture, agriculture and animal care etc) as a therapeutic tool, enhancing our mental and emotional well-being through social, as well as physical exercise. ‘Nowt wrong with