How to improve your body, mind and your garden!


How to improve your body, mind and your garden!
By Sarah Smyth

So you want to get fit? Well, get gardening!!

You may have been busting yourself at the gym or at the latest fitness class, but when you come home, the garden is still a mess. Maybe it’s time to take a different approach.

Instead of paying someone else to do the garden (or ignoring it, like us!), why not burn off some serious calories working on your own garden? It’s the ultimate outdoor gym, after all.

Generations of gardeners will tell you that all that pruning, sowing, mowing and raking can take a lot out of a body but according to, depending on how much you weigh and the type of work you are doing, you can burn anywhere between 240 and 448 calories per hour in the garden. And you will have something to show for it at the end of the day.

Raking grass, packing leaves or planting shrubs and flowers would burn up around 240 calories an hour, according to the website. Mowing the lawn can burn up around 270 calories an hour (but sitting on a ride-on mower does not count so get out your push lawnmower if you want to make it really worthwhile). Needless to say, heavy duty work such as digging and laying sod is even more effective and you could use up 300 calories per hour while transforming your garden.

Even a half an hour splitting wood can burn up the same amount of energy as vigorous weightlifting.

It all depends on your weight and your work rate, you have to put a bit of welly into it if you want to reap the rewards. And your garden will look all the better for it.

Not only that, gardening is great for the mind. There is truly nothing better than working with soil and flowers to improve your mental health.

Not only do you get the satisfaction of improving your garden, gardening is relaxing, takes your mind off the stress of everyday and keeps you in tune with the natural rhythm of the seasons and the soil.

Go on, grab your wellies and get going. You'll feel better, you'll look better and your garden will look fantastic!