'A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.'

- James Dent

Horticulture therapy

Do you feel good, enjoy a sense of fulfilment after sweating it out for a couple of hours in your garden? Yes? Well, it's not a figment of your imagination. Researchers have found that exposure to plants reduce the amount of time spent in a hospital after surgery, as well as reduce patients' requests for painkillers.

In a study at the Sloan-Kettering Institute (New York), breast cancer surgery patients gathered their strength faster, increased their ability to focus attention, and reduced their depression, merely by walking regularly in a garden.

In other areas, research shows that working with and handling plants lowers blood pressure, eases the feelings of stress, and in general makes us feel better. Not to mention the pleasure we derive from the sight of beautiful blooms. In a nutshell, growing a healthy house plant gives us a sense of control over our lives, and a sense of reward as the plant thrives.

These results are so positive that plant care is now used in all types of physical therapy. Time and time again research shows that merely being exposed to plants calms us and produces a positive energy, making us more efficient and less frantic.

If all of the above is true, I am going to lengthen my gardening routine by a couple of hours!

Be in bloom year-round

Instead of trying to have one single plant bloom all season, why not choose plants with varying seasons of bloom? That way, you will have different plants blooming at different times and be entertained accordingly.

Perennials generally have a distinct bloom period lasting from as little as one week to a few months. Therefore, if you want plants that will flower all summer long, it's best to go with annuals.

Here are some perennials with a relatively long bloom period: day lily, achillea, coreopsis, heliopsis, rudbeckia, salvia, scabiosa, Shasta daisy, and veronica. Some plants produce one big flush of blooms, then bloom again in the fall, including some types of day lilies and iris.

Make a planting schedule, so that one plant's end flowering period coincides with the start of another.

A pebble path

I'm thinking of covering an area in my garden with pebbles to create a (hopefully) handsome path. The vexation lays in trying to figure out how much work and material this little project would entail.

The amount of work depends on how formal an effect I want. I consulted some experts in the field who told me that, ideally, I would have to remove the sod (the layer of matted grass and soil), create a compacted base layer and then top that with levelled sand. The final step would be to add a thick layer of pebbles (or other ornamental paving, such as paver slabs, decorative cobbles, or other material). This requires a rigid edging system to stay in place.

In a less formal setting, you could kill out the grass (or not), lay down some weed barrier matting, top that with several inches of pebbles and possibly roll it occasionally to keep the surface a bit firmer. The pebbles would need to be topped up from time to time as they will settle due to the foot traffic.

This is why some type of edging is also a good idea as it would keep the pebbles from migrating sideways. Either method would require some help from a professional.