Go ahead and spend more time gardening -- it’s good for you

Some patients find their own path to wellness. Tommy Tennyson, who suffered a stroke from a brain tumor more than a decade ago, credits his garden with saving his life.

“After my stroke, when I felt like it, I needed something to do,” the Virginia man says in a Newport News Daily Press story. “I always enjoyed working outside, so I started small and here I am today. When I’m alone and busy, I don’t think about it too much or how I look. I really don’t like to talk about it.”

Tennyson isn’t alone in his belief in the power of gardening. The American Horticultural Therapy Assn. defines different ways that “people-plant relationships” can help people with depression, memory loss, cognitive problems and more.

“People with physical or mental disabilities benefit from gardening experiences as part of [horticultural therapy] programs, and they learn skills, adaptations, and gardening methods that allow for continued participation at home,” the website says in part.

Ah, more reasons to stop and smell the roses.