THE GREEN ROOM

THE

GREEN ROOM

In a world where everything is online and gratification is one phone tap away, why are we so obsessed with the slow world of plants and gardening? Jackie Rankin finds out.

I’m at my happiest when I’m planting.

Plant owners are a pretty sizeable tribe – and they’re getting younger. The Royal Horticultural Socoety reported a 533 per cent increase in the number of 18 to 24 year olds visiting its website in the second half of 2020.

Plants are a breath of fresh air – literally. But they don’t just give out oxygen – research shows their therapeutic abilities include reducing stress, helping concentration and even increasing pain tolerance. Emma Taylor Johnson’s plant shop, in the market town of Ormskirk, is a treatment room for those seeking horticultural therapy. The former English teacher doesn’t just sell plants – she nurtures and even rescues them (mostly from owners who’ve been overzealous with the watering can). Emma’s parting advice to people as they leave the shop with a new plant is simple: “Find the right place, with the right conditions and care, it’ll thrive.”

That same sage advice can apply to people – as Emma herself can testify. For 18 years she taught English in secondary schools. Long hours juggling a young family were tough. But as time went on and education became more exam centred Emma despaired at the lack of opportunity for creativity and free spirit. Together with a colleague she created an outdoor learning centre in a woodland area within the school grounds, with an allotment, pond and planting area. The impact was profound. ”Kids who struggled in the classrooms would be totally engrossed and focused,” said Emma.

But while the garden project flourished, Emma’s own mental health was suffering. It’s something she’s only recently been able to openly talk about.

“I’d been given time off from lessons to do a horticultural course and I’d banged the drum for horticulture to be included in the curriculum, but I gradually realised it wasn’t going to happen. I felt schools were becoming exam factories and I was part of that. We’d lost a colleague to suicide which took its toll on colleagues. I became more and more anxious. I didn’t tell anyone – I’d always advocated talking yet I couldn’t do it myself.” When she returned to school after summer break her body did the talking. “I was about to take the register when my body froze. I couldn’t speak. I managed to email a colleague, who sent cover. I went home and didn’t go back.” Emma and her family had moved home to a more rural spot so she could grow flowers and produce. But she struggled. “I was in this beautiful place and my family life was perfect, yet I felt I’d failed. I was ashamed.” Horticulture became a central part of her road to recovery. “I knew from the school gardens that this was something I was good at.” After a month of being unable to do more than sit in a chair, she began growing plants and flowers to sell. Life took an even more unlikely turn when, driving past an empty shop on the corner of a cobbled street in the market town of Ormskirk, Emma stopped and went in ‘just for a peek’. Although not part of her plan, it ‘felt right’ and a few weeks later she opened Emma’s Wild Garden. Two years on and surrounded by native seasonal flora and fauna, Emma’s days are spent sourcing, curating, running workshops – and sharing her passion and knowledge to help plants and people thrive and flourish.

“I’m at my happiest when I’m planting” she grins. “There are studies showing that soil has healing elements. I feel that every time I put my hands in soil.”

Soil has healing elements – I feel that every time I put my hands in soil.