Accra, Aug. 18, GNA – Daisy is 33, a Corporate Affairs Manager at a large and renowned multinational company.
She was in a bad state and was stressed mentally, emotionally and physically, due to her demanding job but now, has a drastic change in her demeanor.
Daisy, now the picture of good health, is more relaxed, happier and able to handle the demands of her job in a more efficient manner.
Looking back at her life, she has no regrets about deciding to join a garden and flower club months ago.
Becoming a member was a recommendation by a cousin who thought Daisy needed a break from the suffocating work environment as the club is aimed to inspire knowledge and love for gardens and flowers through educational and practical activities including monthly speakers, garden tours, flower shows and workshops.
Though Daisy knew little about gardening and flowers, she was convinced to try it out and now realizes the benefits from joining the club.
An important benefit experiencing that she is now able to maintain a healthy balance between work and leisure because the club’s garden and flower activities makes a pleasant break from the hectic work environment.
Furthermore, she is now able to apply the skills and knowledge to her own garden, which she uses for relaxation, whether she is planting flowers, taking care of plants or simply lounging.
Daisy has also realized that because of her gardening activities with the club and at home, she now has an active lifestyle, which has positively affected her physically and mentally.
Her mind is more relaxed and able to cope with stressful situations at work and has more energy to take on various tasks.
This development is no surprise because the Journal of Health Psychology published an experiment that proved that gardening could be compared to a stress-relieving activity.
In the experiment, test subjects in gardening experienced a significant decrease in stress levels when compared with other subjects that were assigned to simple reading.
Since she joined the club, Daisy has gained new practical skills and bringing back to life her latent creative skills because though there was a garden in her backyard, she never attended to it.
However, with the floriculture skills she acquired, she could not wait to start her own garden and in no time transformed it into a beautiful work of art.
Daisy also grows her own fruits and vegetables now and harvests bursting, juicy tomatoes, tangerines and other fruits and vegetables.
As a result, she has been able to cut down expenditure on food and made additional income from the sale of her plants in addition to meeting and connecting with different people who together have created a small flower garden for an orphanage.
Daisy not only learnt a lot from these activities but also experienced a sense of unity that boosted her self-esteem.
It is for these and other reasons that buttress the need for being part of the Ghana Garden and Flower Movement and also attending the Ghana Garden and Flower Show scheduled from September 8 – 14.
The outline of events at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park, are great opportunities to collect information about club, as well as discovering programmes to enhance your surroundings to contribute to the greenery and health of the country.
Gardening definitely comes with a number of benefits, be it mental, physical or even economic and like Daisy, you do not need to be an expert in horticulture and floriculture before getting involved.
There are many available opportunities to learn, develop your skills and contribute to a greener, healthier, wealthier, cleaner and more beautiful Ghana. Just make the time.