Did you know that today is Garden Day? Created by the Candide gardening app (which is worth downloading by the way) the day has been launched to encourage gardeners to down tools and celebrate their gardens with friends, families and neighbours.
It has been proven that there are great benefits to gardening. Known to reduce stress and combat high blood pressure it can also improve physical fitness. The responsibility of planting something that we then have to care for, nurture and water otherwise it might die, gives people with mental health issues a sense of purpose and worth. Also plants don't talk back! There is not really a right or wrong way to do things, you can learn as you go along. What gardening does do is make you focus, whether you are weeding, digging, planting, your mind is focused on the task to hand which takes the focus off your worries and anxieties. You are also in control,so whilst you may not have control over some areas of your life at the moment, you can control what you sow and grow.
So back to gravel. When we viewed Foxes Field we were surprised at the amount of gravel. The whole grounds of the property front, back and sides is gravelled. Well I suppose it looks tidy I said to hubby. Little did I know that was because the owners who had moved out at this stage, were employing a person to visit weekly to spray weed killer over the gravel to keep the weeds down.
Once they sold the property, they obviously told the person to stop. We didn't visit the property again for a number of weeks whilst the sale was going through, when we did eventually visit, what a nightmare!
So my days are now spent combating weeds and spraying regularly to keep them down. I do enjoy gardening. I'm not particularly good at it but I can lose myself for hours in a flower bed. Weeding, pruning, planting, watering. Trying different flower combinations. I find it very relaxing, so I have set myself a challenge. I plan to get rid of all the gravel slowly,( we are talking about a third of an acre here!) and add lawns, flower beds, trees and raised planters for me to grow my own veg. Not something I have done before but I relish a challenge! I want to encourage the wild life back into the garden, add some feeders for the birds, wild flowers for the butterflies and bring it back to what a country garden should look like. I'm sure I will learn a lot along the way and I'll keep you updated on this blog. I'm off to the garden centre now to buy a rake and a shovel ☺ Until next week... Happy Sunday x