Be Active in the Garden

Get started with Gardening!

Get Your Hands Dirty: Boost Your Wellbeing with Gardening

Gardening is a fantastic way to get active and practice mindfulness at the same time. Simple tasks like digging, planting, and watering engage your body, while the focus and connection to nature help to calm your mind—a complete workout for both your physical and mental health.

You Don't Need a Big Garden to Start

You can begin your gardening journey even without any outdoor space. A sunny windowsill, a small balcony, or even just a pot in a bright corner of your room is all you need.

Easy Ideas to Get You Growing

Not sure what to plant? Here are a few simple ideas:

  • Start Indoors: Try growing low-maintenance houseplants like succulents and cacti, or even herbs like mint and basil on your kitchen windowsill.

  • Help Local Wildlife: Plant a small pot or patch of wildflowers to create a 'bee and butterfly garden' that supports local pollinators.

  • Grow Your Own Food: Experience the satisfaction of eating something you've grown yourself. Start with easy vegetables like lettuce, radishes, or cherry tomatoes in a container.

Gardening Tips and Tricks

Tutorials

Use YouTube tutorials to help you develop new gardening techniques and an understanding of the plants you’ve chosen to grow. You can find examples of useful tutorials below.

Plan your space

Assess the space you have to work with. Is it indoors or outside, large or small? Is it north or south facing? At what time of day does it get the most sunlight? Are there any shaded areas?

Plan your time

Check the weather and make plans for a day of gardening, then throw on your comfy scruffs and get your hands dirty! If you are using an indoor space - weather won't be an issue!

Routine

Get into a gardening routine! Make time for yourself to nurture your garden as it grows and don’t forget to take photographs of your progress. Set alarms to water your plants if necessary!

Think about your space

Think about what you’d like to do with the space and what is feasible, and then draw out your plans. Do you want to create a veg patch? Do you want to grow a bonsai nursery? Be creative! There are many methods for space-saving mini-gardens, you can find inspiration below!

Find your supplies!

Make a list of the supplies you’ll need and find creative ways to gather them. Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree offer plenty of gardening freebies, from
seeds, soil, cuttings, and tools. It’s also worth putting a post on social media to see if friends can lend you any gardening supplies.

Want some more inspiration?