5 things to do in the mindful garden in March to improve your wellbeing

4 minute read

The?benefits of gardening and food growing for health and wellbeing?are well documented.

By practicing gardening for mindfulness you can relieve stress and anxiety, boost your mood and improve your wellbeing.

The following mindful gardening for wellness activities can be?done in the?March garden as signs of Spring start to appear, to help you connect with Mother Nature?and feel calmer and happier.

Before you start the activity, notice how you are feeling on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is low energy, stressed and anxious and 10 is energised and calm.

Once you have completed the exercise, check in with where you are on the scale again.

DEAD HEAD YOUR DAFFODILS- 5 MINUTES

As your daffodils start to go over and crisp up, use some secateurs or scissors to remove the spent heads.?

As you snip through the stem, what can you hear and feel?

This will prevent the plants setting seed and will encourage the leaves to send all their goodness back into the bulb for next years flowers.

MULCH RHUBARB CROWNS- 5 MINUTES

Rhubarb is a thirsty plant so to cut down on the amount of watering you need to do as the weather warms and to ensure the plant has plenty of nutrients for healthy growth mulch it with well rotted manure.

Take a shovel and fill it with your manure, noticing the sensations in your body as your muscles work to scoop and carry the full shovel.

Gently place the manure around the plant taking care not to cover the crown as this can lead to the plant rotting. You will need to engage your sense of sight here.?Look out for those little green and pink shoots and ensure the manure is kept well away from them.

WEED A BORDER OR RAISED BED- 20 MINUTES

Set a timer for 20 minutes on your phone.

Channel any thoughts or?feelings?that you are ready to let go of into the weeds before you unearth them.

As you dig and pull them from the ground and discard them in to a bucket focus on the sound of the trowel cutting the soil and imagine your unwanted thoughts and feelings being unearthed from the space they are occupying in your brain.

After 20 minutes you'll be left with a border ready to plant and some more headspace in your brain.

CONSTRUCT SUPPORTS FOR PEAS AND BEANS- 20 MINUTES

Although peas and beans won't be planted out until towards the end of the month or even into to April get ahead of the game and construct your supports now.

This will not only help you with planning your growing space but it will ensure the roots of the plants aren't damaged by trying to add supports after they've been planted.

Using bamboo canes, hazel pea sticks, jute netting or even biodegradable string on a frame anchor your supports into the ground. Notice the amount of force you are applying to the supports to get them into the ground.?Where can you feel it in your body??Wiggle the supports to check they are securely anchored before binding them together or adding netting or string.

GIVE YOUR GRASS ITS FIRST MOW- 60 MINUTES

There's something so satisfying about the first cut of the season isn't there?

As you stride up and down the lawn tune in to what you can smell, what can you hear? How do these sensations make you feel?

Do you notice anything other than grass growing in your lawn? What colours and shapes do you see?

For more?mindful gardening?activities?download your free Spring Mindful Gardening Guide here.