10 Reasons To Get Into Gardening By The Rich Brothers

18 May 2017

David and Harry Rich are two brothers taking the gardening world by storm. Both under 30, they were the youngest ever winners of a Chelsea Flower Show Gold in 2013. They have designed gardens for the likes of Chanel and Massimo Dutti, and present BBC1’s Garden Rescue alongside Charlie Dimmock. Their debut book, Love Your Plot, is published May 18th 2017.

The Rich Brothers

Here Harry & David tell us their top 10 reasons to get into gardening…

It’s an great way to get active

Gardening is really great gentle exercise. Whether you’re looking to improve your fitness or are already into your training, it’s great physical movement for you body and gets you muscles moving gently.

Get your Zen on

Getting out in your garden enhances awareness of your surroundings and really helps you notice the nature all around you much more. Tending your plants or planning an outdoor space allows you time to reflect and switch off from the world to focus on your task – great for some quiet time .

Bonding time

Gardening is a great team activity – whether with flatmates, family members, friends, children - there is always something everyone can get involved in, no matter their age or experience. We’ve always found that spending time together and sharing knowledge and gardening know-how is a great bonding experience.

Creative freedom

There is so much creativity in gardening – from plot design and layouts to making sculptures, gifts, and garden furniture. Making things for your garden develops manual skills you wouldn’t necessarily use in a typical day job – you can use natural materials like stone and wood to craft unique and bespoke structures which will have the WOW factor when guest come over.

Design skills

If you get serious about designing your own outdoor space you will naturally develop your design know-how. Draw, paint or use a computer to mark our your design work. Gardens are versatile and offer lots of opportunity to test out your ideas and create a space that fits your lifestyle – jotting down different design ideas will help in formulating your big picture plan for the space.

Something for everyone

You don’t need to have acres and acres of land to get green fingered, you may not have any outdoor space but room for window boxes, which are a great place to start. Window boxes are great for growing herbs and getting a feel for the attention needed for different plants.

Adds value to your home

A good, well maintained garden can add value to your home – experts say as much as a 20% rise in your property value is possible with some gardening imagination and a looked after garden.

Grow your own

Gardening doesn’t have to be all about aesthetics and pretty flowers – growing your own food teaches you about the different species of plants and can be more cost effective and healthier than shop bought fruit & veg. You can experiment with fruit and veg you may not usually eat, you’ll experience new flavours and fell much more fulfilled knowing you can eat your gardening efforts!

Benefits wildlife

Creating green outdoor spaces is not only great for human enjoyment, but also provides much needed habitats for wildlife. Green spaces attract food pollinators, which we need to keep this planet alive.