"The implication is that therapeutic horticulture may potentially boost immunity and moderate geriatric conditions, including inflammatory diseases, dementia and depression."- Ms Angelia Sia, deputy director of Ecology, on the results of a recent NParks research paper.
According to the research, interacting with nature helps to improve mental well being and gardening helps to stimulate memory. Apparently another project to study the effects of therapeutic horticulture on elderly people who are at risk of cognitive decline found that the experimental group who attended the horticulture activities for 24 weeks were significantly less anxious, happier and showed improvement in cognitive function. It appears that they also have healthier sleep patterns.
This is indeed very encouraging news for me as I have developed some interest in gardening arising from the Covid lock down. Every morning after a few sips of coffee I will take a review of the plants in my small garden. Often my cat will join me. It used to be that a tiny garden lizard will scuttle off to hide but increasingly it seems to be less afraid of me and will just keep very still on a branch or perform a few acrobatic swings. So talking to my cat or the baby lizard will be my first daily interaction with another living creature which is often far more uplifting than talking to a human being who will either greet me with some depressing piece of world news or some grouchy ramble. Then of course I will also talk to my plants, not with much thinking but just a natural response when examining their condition like "hmmm... you can't take too much sunlight can you?" Indeed this is what they call interaction with nature.
Now I am not sure whether gardening will stimulate memory but it certainly needs a bit of thinking and analysis as well as research. Sometimes it flashes an insight into life too. For instance when pruning a pot of dense Moss Roses or Nine O'clock flowers, I think about times in our life when we have too much on our plate and the necessity to abandon some commitments so that we can thrive on the rest.
In trying to grow a certain plant for the first time I have to assume the right conditions for it to grow. I will then provide those conditions to the best that I can and hope for the best. David Cooper who wrote the book "A Philosophy of Gardens" describes it as humility to trust that nature will run its course. Likewise in life we can only do what seem right and true to ourselves but we cannot dictate the outcome. We can only try again and again adjusting the various conditions but if the plant is not suitable for our climate then we have to accept that fact. Occasionally however, plants can also surprise you with either their resilience or reward you for your faith in them.
Cooper also pointed out that the commitment and discipline to care for the plants instils a structure that can extend to caring for oneself.
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