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Tackling mental ill health through gardening

When the first coronavirus lockdown hit the UK, GP Tamasi Basu found herself under mounting levels of stress. But when she discovered gardening she found the benefits spread way beyond her own garden fence

March 2020 heralded a stressful time for everyone – locked away from loved ones, deprived of social interaction, and seeing TV screens filled with scenes of hospitals treating patients: lockdown was grim.

Dr Tamasi Basu, a GP in Essex, not only shared the personal fear of the illness, like millions of us, she had her day-to-day caseload of patients to care for, suffering from a variety of ailments that couldn’t wait until the end of lockdown to be treated.

“I was working from home, occasionally in surgery, but I was really, really busy and feeling very stressed about it; worrying about our patients, the disease itself, the risk factors. Like so many people in the medical profession I felt so helpless because I couldn’t do anything for my patients.”

On top of that, her teenage son, who would normally have been at school working towards his As-Levels, was stuck at home, shielding because of an under-lying health condition. “Not ideal” as she put it.

From tiny seeds...

Then one day in early spring, she planted some vegetable seeds. What prompted her to do this she isn't sure, and she never held out much hope of success, having never tried growing her own veg before. But it was something other than work to focus on, a distraction from the horrors outside her home.

“I hadn’t really gardened before – I always gave the excuse I didn’t have time. But in the lockdown I made a point of finding time.

“I needed to relax, I couldn’t be working all the time. I have to look after myself so I can look after my patients.”

“I would work late – at least 7pm each night – and then come home and go into the garden. It was lovely during summer.”

From those first seeds planted in spring grew tiny seedlings. Each needed caring for, tending to, nurturing, so they could flourish. And every step of the growing journey provided Dr Basu with a little boost to her morale.

“I’ve grown flowers before but never vegetables. But then everything I planted germinated – I had tremendous success and really surprised myself; I really didn’t expect very much.”

Her first crop of vegetables was a hit – she grew courgettes, brassicas, spinach, fenugreek, Indian beans to name just a few. This success spawned a passion that began to transform others’ lives as well.

Spreading the passion for gardening

The project became a shared family experience. Her first crop of edibles introduced new vegetables to family meals while Dr Basu’s parents, who couldn’t visit because of the lockdown, got involved over video calls. “My mum particularly gave advice on how to grow Indian vegetables. She gardened when she was younger – this gave her great pleasure.”

Her husband, also a GP, took an interest, installing climbing frames for the plants to grow up and planting his own cucumbers.

Even her son offered to pitch in, carrying heavy loads of compost and moving pots about. “How often do you hear a teenage boy offering to help his mum?” It was her son, Orchi, who noticed she was becoming connected with her plants, talking to them, and bonding with them.

Her new-found passion spread. She began a WhatsApp group with neighbours to share tips, advice and even plants, and they are already looking forward to working together again next year.

And her regular visits to the RHS website, for advice on how to get the best out of her plants, prompted her to join the Society. She’s really made the most of the professional advice available to members and is very much looking forward to visiting the gardens and shows.

“Growing vegetables really changed the way I looked at life and the situation [covid] as a whole.”

Dr Basu felt she gained so much from her new-found passion that she has now begun to suggest it to her patients.

Those who suffer from a form of anxiety or depression were the first to benefit from her ideas. She suggested it based on her own experience of growing vegetables. “It’s a stress buster,” she told them.

Then she thought about patients recovering from Covid – so-called long-Covid in particular, and how, if they did a bit of exercise in the garden then it could aid with their recuperation. The benefits of their outdoor space could extend well beyond their mental health.

“Not everything is treated with a tablet. We have this term social prescribing, getting people to do exercise, cycling or walking and so on. Why not gardening?”

She said a couple of her patients have spoken positively of the benefits of gardening to their mental health.
And it’s never been more important, particularly after England returned to a state of lockdown in November.

“We’ve seen a significant rise in anxiety during the lockdown. The counselling service in our area almost can’t cope at the moment because there are so many people being referred to them.

“It’s down to the uncertainty, the job situation, losing loved ones – there are so many factors putting pressure on people’s mental health.

It is not just the mental health benefits of gardening that Dr Basu is advocating. It is well known that we should be eating more fresh vegetables and what better way of increasing our intake than by growing our own? The act of gardening can lead to a healthy body and a healthy mind.

What next?

Dr Basu recently attended a course entitled “Put Your Oxygen Mask on First” organised by the Royal College of General Practitioners.

“It taught us how to meditate and other relaxation techniques to offload job-related stress in the medical world. I think my growing my own vegetables definitely was one successful attempt at this.”

RHS advice service in numbers

More and more people turned to their gardens in 2020 making the most of their extra time at home and connecting with nature. That was reflected in a surge of requests for advice from the RHS.

Between February and October we answered 51,391 questions via the online system for members - up from 20,720 in the same period last year.
There were more than 44.5 million sessions on our Plants and Advice pages on the website in the same period compared to 27.5 million last year
In the first week of November, we answered 761 online enquiries, compared to just 396 in 2019
In total we estimate 93,000 enquiries will have been answered by the end of the financial year 2020/21 – and that’s without shows and face to face advice being open

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Tackling mental ill health through gardening

Dr Basu harvests fresh veg from her plot

From tiny seeds...

The family’s supply of fenugreek was kept topped up throughout the season

Spreading the passion for gardening

Tomatoes started in Dr Basu’s conservatory grew particularly well

Another success for the family was brassicas, including cauliflower, pictured

Dr Basu’s mother offered tips on growing Indian vegetables including lablab beans

Broad beans were a huge success for Dr Basu