Gardening in the winter

At this time of year it is difficult to see any good in gardening

And this because many people become self-centered, irritable, unproductive and unhappy during the long months of winter.
Life goes on and all of us find different ways to combat the winter blues

Some have found that nothing works better than getting outside and gardening.

Some of this is just being out in the fresh air, especially on a crisp winter's day.
But if it was just that then good walk would suffice

Gardeners would tell you that there is something more going on, something intimately connected to the soil and to growing things.

It is something to do with being directly tuned into nature and in being in tune with the weather, the seasons and the tiny details of your own garden that make it such a special place

Certainly something is going on when more than eleven million in Britain alone make an effort to garden regularly through all the seasons of the year

Some of it is to do with making a beautiful garden and some of it to do with the love of plants

We would suggest rather that it is mostly to do with the sense of well-being that it gives
But the real pleasures of gardening are much simpler and more mysterious than any of this.

Gardens are for many as spiritual as modern man gets as it is the only relationship to nature many people have.

It feeds back to the gardener a wisdom that has much to do with an immeasurable sense of rightness and belonging

And this is one of the fundamentals of good health

It is also fun - or should be if you are doing it with the right approach

It really does not matter what it is that you are doing.

There is no hierarchy in gardening

Gardening does need attention and concentration though and here is another clue as both are guaranteed to make you feel at peace with yourself and the world.

It's not a bad deal.

If you get to know your piece of ground it becomes personal and with that is a sense of responsibility and nurture.

You give something of yourself to it and it gives back.

Sounds a bit funny but it works.

Gardening is accepted as a gentle thing that people grow to love as they move into middle age and beyond.

The truth is much more powerful and dynamic than this.

Gardening is the door through which we all can go to connect with a natural rhythm that can heal our pains

It is the door through which we tap into a life departed for most modern men

It is a means for modern society to remember its roots

Of growing some fresh seasonal food to remind us when there were seasons for food and to share in that process

Gardening is many things and above all a therapy that asks only that we share of ourselves

Working with nature is special so if you can then why not you too?