Gardening

I love gardening - when you visit the clinic you get to see how much I love gardening even though all I have is a large collection of pots. Gardening is not just for its aesthetics though - there are numerous health benefits too. There is also a warning that comes with gardening too and that is during the spring and summer months of the year, it is a cause of injury. Below is a list of the health benefits of gardening, and some tips on how to make gardening easier on the body.

• Gardening can improve strength, stamina and flexibility

• You get outside, and at certain times of the year this can boost your Vitamin D levels.

• By growing your own, it encourages you to eat more fruit and veg (beans, squash, nasturtiums and cut and come again lettuce are our favs)

• Reduction in cortisol levels, thus boosting relaxation.

• Provides you with a sense of accomplishment.

Gardening is a form of exercise and due to this, it is worth doing a short warm-up before starting a session. Also think about doing short bursts of one task and then swapping tasks, for example, digging an area, planting seeds in that area, watering them, and then digging the next patch.

Let us know your gardening tips and what you are growing this year.