Get A Spring in Your Step and Plan Your Garden.

Feeling blue?  Go for Green.  You’ll dig this…

As we’re edging ever closer to Spring (hooray!), the mornings are getting lighter, which means those wintery moods become lighter too!  That period from the end of December to the beginning of Spring is usually a subdued one for most.  There are a couple of reasons for this - for one, the weather is a little unpredictable (and as such, keeps us indoors) and then there is the inevitable beginning-of-year-lack-of-funds, of course!

Gardening in the rain won’t be a great deal of fun (for some) however when you get a decent day, spending it in your garden - and yes, this means doing the gardening - can be very rewarding.  Your garden doesn’t have to be huge to get any joy from it, a small patio or balcony with carefully chosen and beautifully planed tubs can create a haven of peace and tranquility.  Some plants/seeds can thrive in the tiniest of spaces, making gardening accessible to all.

If you get it right, your garden (however big or small it is) will become a haven for birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife, but then you’ll already know that as it’s all there for you to see – just look out of your window and see how many birds you can spot!  The RSPB runs an annual bird spotting survey, great fun for the kids and for you to see year on year the state of our garden friends. https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

The garden is not only a haven for birds and bees, by investing some time and energy it will also become a haven for you too. 

After a busy week a work with the noise of the commute and the sound of telephones ringing, we sometimes forget how relaxing it is to just be in the moment.  

With the stresses and strains of everyday life being active in nature is proven to help both body and mind:

• Stress relief – put down your mobile phone for a few hours! Nature is a proven stress reliever and spending time in your garden, looking after those lovely plants, is not only rewarding, but calming too.
• Feeling good? Feel better.  Gardening has been linked to better moods, leading to a better outlook in life and what’s more, it gives a sense of hope in the form of the reward at the end.
• Let’s get physical. If you’ve spent enough days tidying the garden you’ll know only too well how much your bones will feel it the following day!  Yes – this is a big one!  Gardening reduces calories too.  Rated as moderate-intensity exercise, did you know you can burn in excess of 300 calories just doing a bit of light gardening?
• Speaking of those bones, whether you see it in the sky of not, being out in the open air beneath the sun makes your body generate more Vitamin D, making those bones stronger. Vitamin D is also fabulous for building up a strong immune system and who doesn’t want one of those?
• Lower that blood pressure! Yes, spend enough time out there and you can decrease high blood-pressure levels.

With Spring fast approaching, there’s never been a better time to dust off those wellies, get those scruffs on and get digging.  

Ooh-Box has a collection of gardening gifts and gifts for gardeners that will bring a smile to your green fingered friends.  From Seed Sets to Bee Hotels we have some "blooming" great gift boxes!