Spend #10greenminutes in your garden

What if the answer to feeling better – physically, mentally and emotionally – was right outside your back door? And it didn’t cost a penny or take much time or effort? Well, join our #10greenminutes campaign and spend ten minutes in your garden, every day, and find out for yourself.

Wellbeing is a hot topic at the moment as we feel the pressure of the cost of living crisis in a post-pandemic world. And while wellbeing clinics with all manner of expensive treatments spring up in city centres, and more and more apps become available to guide us through our days in better ways, we think there’s a really simple solution to help ourselves cope.

It’s been scientifically proven, again and again, that regularly spending time in a natural environment has a positive impact on health and happiness. And we garden lovers already have our very own slice of the outdoors, conveniently placed and perfectly personalised! So why not use our gardens as the sanctuaries they are, to promote our physical, mental and emotional health, by stepping into them for just a moment, each and every day?

#10greenminutes asks you to pledge to spend a minimum of 10 minutes in your garden every day. Perhaps you’ll plant something pretty or do a bit of weeding, have a wander to see what’s growing, or simply perch on a bench for a coffee – it doesn’t matter a jot what you do, as long as you do something every day so the benefits of spending time outside can start to build up.

Why it works

If you close your eyes and imagine yourself somewhere feeling oh-so relaxed, where does your mind transport you to? To a beach, with the sounds of the waves breaking on the sand, or to a forest, with huge tree trunks stretching up to a dappled green canopy? To a meadow full of gently scented flowers or to a mountain path, with views that go on forever? Or to a shopping centre, on the opening days of the sales?!

We don’t need Derren Brown to read your mind for this one because, when it comes to feeling rested and replenished, we’re all instinctively drawn to natural environments. Research from all over the world backs this up. And all the findings show the same thing: regularly spending time outdoors boosts your mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

In America, researchers from Harvard found that increased time outdoors reduces the chances of developing depression. In Australia researchers discovered that being around greenery limits feelings of loneliness. And in the UK a study found that community gardening boosts mental health by a significant 9%.

In Chile, a study on urban populations found that people who spend time in parks report higher levels of wellbeing than those who don’t, while in Canada studies show that living in greener areas reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. And a study from Japan found that urban populations with access to green space tend to live longer than those who don’t.

But we garden owners don’t need science to tell us what we already know. How often have you nipped out into the garden in a less-than-good mood to do a chore you really didn’t want to do, but been sidetracked into a potter and, by the time you’ve stepped back indoors, felt a gazillion times better?

The combination of gentle exercise, feeling close to nature, and undertaking an activity that is relaxing yet invigorating and brings tangible joy to our lives, is pretty darn amazing. If you could bottle the benefits that being in the garden brings, we’d all be rushing to buy it in bulk!

So let’s not wait till a boffin in a white coat assigns a proven percentage to how much better we feel after spending time in our very own outdoor spaces – let’s get cracking and make this a daily habit that’ll help us feel rested, restored and revitalised.

Winter garden benefits

All very well, we hear you say, but have you looked out of the window today? The weather is miserable! But now is the very time where the potential benefits of being outside may be at their greatest.

To reap the rewards for ourselves, we need to learn a trick or two from the Norwegians. In Norway, there’s a philosophy called friluftsliv (pronounce it free-loofts-life), a wish to spend time outdoors whatever the season, whatever the weather, whatever your age.

Culturally, the Norwegians view it as a vital way to step away from stress and reconnect to the natural world that we’re all part of. They believe that being in nature gives you a sense of connection and unity that’s profoundly restorative. And that’s true whether you get your nature fix from hiking in the wilderness or from caring for the plants in your own outdoor space.

In a bid to understand this philosophy, American health psychologist Kari Leibowitz travelled to the Arctic city of Tromsø, which is about as far north as you can go without actually becoming a polar bear. Residents manage on a daily ration of around three hours of low-level sun a day in winter.

So you’d imagine that the general mood of the city was pretty low, right? Wrong! Kari discovered that the key to winter wellbeing was a positive mindset. She designed the ‘Wintertime Mindset Scale’, which asked people how positively they felt about the winter season: do you find it cosy? Do you find it exciting? Do you like the beauty of the scenery? The more positive someone’s answers, the higher their winter wellbeing.

So if you want to feel motivated to get outside and enjoy a winter moment in your garden, just think about the things that make this season fun. Wearing a bobble hat. Noticing the way frost has formed on a spider’s web. Watching clouds scud across the sky. Wondering which little critter is hibernating in that seedhead. Wrapping your hands around a warm cup of tea and watching your breath puff out around you. Spotting dogs in jaunty winter coats trot past your front garden. Looking up at the beautiful tracery of bare branches. Seeing a snowdrop or a fresh green leaf.

Can you feel the call of the friluftsliv? Go on, grab your coat and step outside...

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Why 10 minutes in your garden is enough

In 2016, researchers from the University of Exeter looked at how much nature time it takes to start feeling all the multiple benefits of being around greenery, from increased wellbeing to greater physical activity (the research focused on exposure to nearby nature – parks and gardens in or near people’s homes). The scientists discovered that enjoying just 10 minutes of greenery a day is all it takes to positively impact people’s health.

The benefits of being in nature

✽ Boosts concentration

✽ Increases creativity

✽ Reduces anxiety

✽ Lowers blood pressure

✽ Lessens rumination (negative self-thinking)

✽ Improves mood

✽ Supports weight loss

✽ Improves breathing

✽ Protects eyesight

✽ Soothes your nervous system

✽ Regulates sleep

✽ Ups your health-protecting vitamin D levels

✽ Increases mood-boosting serotonin

✽ Reduces fatigue

✽ Promotes positive feelings of peace, optimism and awe

Simple ways to make your garden pledge easier to keep

Make it a habit

Schedule in your garden action at the same time, every day, and aim to stick at it for the next two months. Doing things at a set time helps them to become habits and research suggests that it takes an average of 66 days (roughly two months) for a habit to stick.

Pre-prep your garden time

Leave a trug just inside the back door and prefill with the tools you need for your next gardening task: sharpened snips, twine and a copy of Modern Gardens!

Buddy up

Take the pledge with a friend, family member or neighbour and spend at least one of your garden moments each week together. It’s much easier to stick to a pledge when you’re working with someone else.

Create a cosy spot

Small garden projects that don’t take too much effort help to entice you outdoors, and the first one to tackle is creating a cosy spot. Set up a chair in a sheltered part of your garden, string up outdoor fairylights and treat yourself to a pot of Iris reticulata or ‘February Gold’ daffs from the garden centre.

Take the pledge

Give yourself a tick for every day you spend at least 10 minutes in the garden and see how much better you feel by the end of the month.

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