I spend evenings glued to Gardener’s World, drop my paychecks on clematis and exotic tulip bulbs, and have a growing crush on Monty Don. My weekends aren’t complete without pottering in my garden and seeing what I can encourage to live once I’ve planted it, and the notion of getting an annual membership to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is an absolute no-brainer. A classic case of the 'mid-thirties'? As it turns out, no, and I’m far from being alone.
Whether you’re lucky enough to have a back garden, access to a community allotment, or you prefer visiting green spaces nurtured by the professionals (see the forthcoming Chelsea Flower Show or the National Trust’s many properties), there is no doubt that gardening is cool again. In fact, Google searches for 'gardening tips for beginners' are up over 5,000 per cent in the last month, while TikTok is full of users showcasing their outdoor transformations. Even high street brands, like Zara Home and Arket, have launched chic garden tools and paraphernalia for the green-fingered.
Does it appeal to me because I’m on my way to a certain age, or is this trend more universal? Research seems to suggest the latter, with one study revealing that 83 per cent of young people (aged between 18 and 35) deemed gardening 'cool'. A further 54 per cent would also rather hit the garden centre than go clubbing, so what was once (wrongly) deemed an activity reserved solely for those in midlife, is now a multi-generational affair. Barclays found spending at garden centres increased 25 per cent versus the same period last year.
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And it’s all I’m talking about: At a recent work dinner, I immediately bonded with fashion host Ebony Francis because of our shared love of gardening; at her allotment in Nottingham, she has grown vegetables, herbs and flowers since September 2024.
'We have eight functioning beds with spring onions, potatoes, butternut squash, garlic, artichokes, peas, peppers, Ethiopian kale, raspberries, chickpeas, plus we’ve grown all sorts of herbs, including lemon balm, mint and thyme, which I use every day for herbal teas and dinner,' she enthuses. 'I also love flowers, so we’ve planted over 20 different blooms – think yellow cosmos, sunflowers, African marigolds, poppies and sweet peas – alongside a David Austin rose my friend just bought me for my 40th, which I’m yet to plant. We have grown everything from seed.'
Make-up free with her braids up, she describes these 'therapeutic' moments with Mother Nature as when she is at her happiest. 'I am so present and focused on the task at hand that I don’t think about work or my to-do list,' she explains. 'I love being a part of the eco-system, it’s been so powerful for me mentally and physically. Not only am I much stronger from all the wheelbarrow trips, but I also find that when I’ve been to the allotment in the morning, I return home and creative ideas start to flow naturally.'
I’ve been inspired by a number of outdoor influencers sharing their journeys on social media, too. The multi-hyphenate farmer/gardener/cook Julius Roberts documents idyllic pastoral life on a small-holding in Dorset, and spends his time rustling up delicious meals from homegrown produce. Then there are biodynamic growers, such as Poppy Okotcha and Alfie Nickerson of Burnt Fen Flowers, who capture snapshots from their days working on the land; and garden designers, like Jo Thompson, whose Substack, Gardening Mind, is also worth a follow. Not to mention Mr Monty Don, whose bucolic snaps of his home, Longmeadow, are mouthwatering for a city dweller like me. Hell, even David Beckham grows his own vegetables. And these are just the people with a 'following'. I spend just as much time poring over the seedlings my friends have managed to germinate as I do my own.
In her new book 'Gardening Handbook: The Essential Guide to Designing, Planting and Growing', Martha Stewart – one of the OGs of making horticulture chic – details all she has learned about how to plant, grow and harvest. But one line at the beginning of the book summarised why, I think, so many of us are turning to our gardens for enjoyment right now. 'Gardening is an ever-evolving relationship, making it both immediately gratifying and a source of long-term awe and enjoyment,' she writes, elaborating on the gradual unfolding of bulbs, the sprouting of seeds and the bounty of beautiful flower heads on show in her own grounds.
To my mind, the act of working in the soil is the antidote to the digital world in which we inhabit – it’s mindfulness in practice. I don’t listen to podcasts or use my phone while I garden, I just do it. So instead of the instant (or unearned) dopamine hits we get constantly through looking at our phones, pulling weeds, planting produce, pruning and even cutting the grass are hard graft, but it’s labour that bears infinitely more rewarding fruits – if you’ll pardon the pun. Experts call this 'earned' dopamine, and it refers to anything we have to pursue with dedication and discipline over a longer period of time, which ultimately results in a greater feeling of reward and happiness. Gardening offers both: an instant feeling of calm and a huge sense of achievement in the long term.
There are other health benefits too. As well as being a great form of exercise and boosting cognitive function, Ashby Sachs, RHS’s research fellow in wellbeing and horticulture, points to research which shows that gardening can reduce stress, anger, fatigue, body mass index (BMI) and symptoms of depression and anxiety. It’s also linked to a more diverse gut microbiome, says Dr Emily Leeming, a gut health expert and author of Genius Gut: 'Just one teaspoon of soil can contain over eight billion microbes,' she confirms.
My garden is the definition of a work in progress, but on sunny days when the birds are flitting around, bees are getting their pollen fix and there’s fresh green sprouts emerging from my plant pots, there really is no stress relief like it. Really, it’s a good job that it’s cool again.
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