Uncategorised

Health, horticulture and garden birds

Writing this diary has given me a much greater appreciation of my own garden with its plants, birds and visiting wildlife.

Talking about plants and the garden I never tire of. Yes, well maybe I do ramble on a bit sometimes – sorry! However, I am really trying to keep this post very brief today and not because I feel it is less important – quite the opposite.

Working in, or simply being in, the garden can be therapeutic on a wide range of levels from escaping the stresses of our daily lives to rebuilding our lives after ill health or disability. It can also be a very sociable activity to be enjoyed with family and friends.

Thrive, and Trellis are just two of the many, many organisations who are helping others feel better through horticulture. If you are interested in this for yourself, or someone you know, you will find contact addresses and much more by browsing these sites and the links within them. Some also produce Newsletters too and I was particularly delighted to be asked to add some chat from my garden to a column in one that is in my area of Scotland. It should be fun – although keeping to the word count I expect will be quite tricky for me!

Garden birds are how my diary started and when Bob at Dean Birders mailed me, last February, asking me to exchange links with him I knew I would return to post on his project one day. In their site they say:

‘This project was the result of two keen birdwatchers getting together and wanting to share their hobby with those that have difficulty getting out and about. We want to set up feeder stations and nesting boxes in the gardens of those people that are either elderly or have a disability and are limited to the house’.

If you want to help out with this project, in the Forest of Dean, or get ideas for one yourself I’m sure Bob would be happy to hear from you. Equally, if you want to help out with the other projects mentioned above I’m sure they too would be very interested to hear from you. There, I’ve almost managed a brief post 🙂

9 thoughts on “Health, horticulture and garden birds

  1. Glad to see you’ve joined the ranks of Blotanical, Frances. This is a lovely post, and i’m off to explore Thrive and Trellis as a result. Don’t worry about rambling on–this is YOUR space and your place to share your thoughts with others, and we appreciate them.

  2. Hi Shirl – thanks for your posting on my blog – unfortunately I’ve been away so missed the dates to share birds in my garden in Brittany – I counted 11 blue tits/great tits on the bird table all at once this morning which isn’t bad! I was over in the UK seeing friends near to Bristol! So it’s back to the hard slog now that I’m back… so will hopefully get some time to post some more on my blog v. soon… will be in touch Miranda

  3. Hey Shirl!
    Thanks for your recent comments on Blue-Grey.

    I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve added your fantastic site as a link from my effort.

    Interesting to hear about your Blue Tits – I intend to remove most of the shavings from my nestcam this weekend – been thinking about it for some time.
    A cable change is probably necessary also, as the connector is a wee bit fickle, so I’ll do all that in one go.
    What a fantastic blog you have here!
    Many thanks.
    Doug

  4. Hi again, Miranda, Lisa , Jayne and hello Doug 🙂

    Miranda – delighted to hear from you. Gosh that’s a lot of blue/great tits at one time! I’m guessing they must like the climate in Brittany. No probs at all about missing the count but if you do a post similar at any time just let me know and I’ll link to it too 😀

    Lisa – thank-you! You are kind 😀

    Jayne – yes, I think so too 😀

    Doug – You are welcome! Its’ great to see someone else here in the UK writing about birds in Nestboxes at the moment – posting videos too. Of course I am delighted with a link from you and I will also add you to my birds/wildlife links if that’s okay with you. Thank-you for your generous comment – I’m sure we will have plenty to chat about in the future 😀

  5. I am a firm believer in the theraputic benefits of gardening. If you ever come to Chicago, you must visit the garden designed for those with disabilities at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It is a model which all resident care facilities should adopt to allow their clients to continue to engage in gardening.

  6. Hi again, Mr. McGregor’s Daughter 🙂

    This is an area that I have been aware of although I have no first hand experience. It is great to hear of a Botanical garden supporting this in Chicago I wonder if any do here in the UK do too 😀

Leave a Reply