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Wake Up And Smell The Flowers – Why Gardeners Are The Happiest Workers

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There is this hallowed idea among the general working population that some of us are happy. Do you know any of these people? I know a few but I also know a few more that aren’t  Maybe in your social circle job satisfaction is the norm but there are an awful lot of people for whom this is not the case. They may have had ideas and dreams as a child or teen but somehow life didn’t pan out that way. We’ve all heard the cliché that money doesn’t bring happiness. According to a City and Guilds study, gardeners are the happiest workers and the least happy are, wait for it… bankers! What is it that makes us happy and contented in our work and why is it so important? We spend such a large part of our week at work. Even when we’re not there, we’re often thinking about it or preparing to go back, so it makes sense that our feelings towards our work will affect our general well being. Apparently, to be truly happy and contented at work, we need to feel recognised, appreciated and supported. We need to feel as if we’re doing something worthwhile while being able to use our skills every day, as well as receiving training and having the opportunity to learn. Gardeners, it would seem, are getting all of this in spades. Ahem. Read on to see how they manage to tick all these boxes.

Exercise

It’s good for us! We all know that really. Many of us spend the day sitting at a desk and call at the gym after work, or go out for a run. Well, I have heard of such people anyway, but gardening is pretty much hard core exercise all day long. Bending, squatting, digging, weeding, hoeing and raking makes a pretty good workout for the whole body and most gardeners will be fit and toned, presumably adding to their general contentment as well as filling them with endorphins.

Breathe

An added bonus of all of this lovely, happy exercise is that it is executed outside in the fresh air. Plenty of sunshine, vitamin D, and lots of lovely oxygen in the lungs contribute to a healthy lifestyle. The downside is being required to work in bad weather but fresh air is mood boosting even if it is a rainy day.

Creation

People tend to feel real pride in creating things and gardeners are constantly surrounded by the fruits of their labour. Planting a seed and watching it grow into a plant is one of life’s simple pleasures and in gardening this will often be happening on a grand scale. Being surrounded by beauty that has been cultivated and created by ourselves is extremely pleasing, leading to that all elusive job satisfaction.

Nurture = Love

Creating a wonderful garden is an act of love. It requires the gardener to nurture and care for their plants and raise their babies into healthy adults. This is the same for relationships and well, if it can be done in the garden…

Dirt is good for you

As well as the digging part being good for you, there is actually something in the mud that improves mood and reduces anxiety. A particular bacterium has been shown to be present in the soil that can have all sorts of health benefits as well as increasing serotonin. With all of these pointers for happiness and well-being, I, for one, am going to log off now and get out in my garden.

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Sam Wright is happily growing and working as a journalist for HorticultureJobs.






War of the Roses

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It figures.

I finally manage to get out into the garden this weekend and of course it’s during a heat-wave. Needless to say I didn’t go out into the garden until late afternoon or early evening as I was waiting for it to cool down a bit.

Still, I made some progress!

The wind was blowing quite hard on Friday afternoon – probably bringing in all the hot weather that’s settled in this area. I noticed that my climbing rose- Antique89 was tipping over in the wind and was crashing into my patio table.

The rose is approximately 7 feet tall and has very thick canes. It was leaning over at more than a 45 degree angle. I quickly grabbed some stakes and my garden tie (plastic ribbon) and scissors and ran outside to fix the rose.

Antique89 rose and bud

While I was wrestling with the rose our boarder apparently came outside looking for me. She didn’t find me. I was under the rose! Hello! Roses don’t normally scream. That was me that was moaning and groaning as the thick thorns dug into the skin on my hands, arms and even my legs.I’d say that Antique 89 and Baron Prevost are probably the thorniest roses that I have in my garden. I’ll be working with all of my roses over the next few days and I’ll let you know if I find any other ones that fit in that category.

Unfortunately, since I haven’t been in my garden all that much over the last two months I have a lot of work to do and a lot of rose wrestling to do. I know, I know … this is the time of year that a gardener should be in the garden regularly, but I’ve been sick and just haven’t been able to get out there.

Much to my dismay and joy as well, the rose are growing as if they are on steroids. Must be all that alfalfa tea I put on them last year. They are huge! Since they are so large they are beginning to flop all over the place too.

Last winter as we prepared the garden for it’s cool slumber my husband thought he was doing me a favor by removing most of the stakes I had in the garden supporting many of my somewhat floppy roses. He did me no favors – especially now, since I’ve let the garden become somewhat overgrown. I’m going to have to climb right into the flowerbed and try to untangle rose branches and discover perennials that are hiding below them.

I’m proud to say that one half of the backyard garden has been tamed! The roses have been straightened, and the plants below them can now be seen. Half the beds have nice red cedar mulch on them. It’s starting to look pretty nice back there. I hope to get the other half of the backyard and the front garden done within the next two days. I still haven’t planted all those annuals though. I thought that I’d better tame the garden first so that I can actually see what areas are a little bare and need annuals. The rest will go into my planters.

I’m going to get my husband to take a picture of my arms tomorrow and if he does I’ll post it. I must have about 50 scratches on each arm – pretty much from the elbows down. They are burning and they look terrible.

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