Stop. Relax. Enjoy

May is one of the busiest months of the gardening calender, but, says Ashley Edwards, slowing things down to observe and appreciate your plot - flaws and all - will pay dividends

- Ashley Edwards

Gardening can often seem like an endless job list, with seasonal tasks piling up. Perhaps you've been seduced by the latest garden catalogue and are only now realising that your towering stack of seed packets must all be sown within the next few weeks. Maybe that bramble seedling you took your eye off for five minutes is now knocking at the patio door, asking to be let in. Whatever the size of your outdoor space, there's something to be done at every turn, so it's no surprise that at times we can feel overwhelmed.

It's important to focus on arriving in the garden as a human being, not doing. It's when we stop and take it all in that we feel the true benefits of being outdoors. Of course, weeding, raking leaves and sweeping pathways can all be therapeutic and satisfying in their own ways, but when we're mindful of our environment, we can also cultivate a sense of calm.

Have you ever been in the garden, furiously weeding or cutting back perennials, when suddenly a huge bumblebee hums overhead and lands on a nearby flower? You stop to watch it clumsily tumbling around in the centre of the flower, getting coated with pollen in the process. In this moment, you are totally drawn in by this insect, while it is oblivious to your observations and goes about its business. You are completely present, fascinated, fixated, and a smile spreads across your face. You are reminded that we are all part of an infinite web of life, connected in every way. This is mindfulness.