As a child I remember my mother pottering around the flower beds in our family garden in Wimbledon. I would kneel beside her watching her magic fingers carefully placing another plant or seed into its new home. My ‘important job’ was patting down the surrounding soil. A few weeks later, a beautiful flower or herb would grow. ‘Fred’, our friendly Robin would appear from nowhere and would sit within a few feet of us, in anticipation of a worm or two appearing. Occasionally he would fly into our kitchen, fluffing and puffing himself up, just so we knew who the boss was and sit on top of the fridge encouraging us to go outside and start digging again.
Providing an environment to attract and sustain nature around us is vital to the planet and to our wellbeing. Many of us noticed how nature choose to come out of hiding during the initial Covid19 lockdown. Bird song was apparent first thing in the morning and seemed louder than usual; wildlife appeared in towns and streets that would normally be scared away by the noise of our car engines and the presence of people. Sitting in a garden, listening to the birds, helps to make times of stress, or anxiousness fade away.
