Anyone who enjoys gardening will tell you it’s always good for the soul. But for many, it’s been a lifeline during lockdown as they tend to plants and make the most of green space for fresh air and a sense of routine.

Gardening initiative Garden Day collaborated with app Candide, and found 96% of people said they felt happier when spending downtime in their gardens.

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While 85% of those polled said they felt gardening was more important to their mental health than their physical health.

Whether you have a window box or acres of land, you’ll likely be looking for inspiration for your gardening exploits right now – and if you don’t have a garden, you might find solace in these gardeners and their plots during isolation.

1. Piet Oudolf @pietoudolf

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Netherlands-based Oudolf is sharing some fantastic shots of his own garden and visiting others where he can – for example, the tulip fields in his native country.

2. Peter Dowdall @the_irish_gardener

Expect lots of flower close-ups from Cork-based Dowdall, who also appears on RTE and is a gardening columnist for the Irish Examiner.

3. Alice Vincent @Noughticulture

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It’s the start of #NationalGardeningWeek! I’m helping @the_rhs encourage more people to get outside and get growing, and will be sharing tips this week in celebration. First up: making the most of your urban space by gardening UP. When I first started balcony gardening the place was essentially a rag-tag gaggle of pots, with lots of brick around. For a green oasis, you need to gain different levels of foliage and interest. INVEST in a tolerant tall beast for your backdrop – bamboo, fatsia japonica, tree ferns – ideally it should be evergreen and hardy. It’s going to do your heavy lifting. ELEVATE mid-sized perennials – in this case the tiarella and sambucus, but could be ferns, heucheras, hydrangeas or other small shrubs – by lifting their pots up. If you’ve got pot-stands, great. Otherwise, a good sturdy and empty pot, turned upside down, will do the trick. USE your surrounds! Get some planters up on your walls and troughs on barriers to trail non-demanding goodies – such as maidenhair vine, redwood sorrel, but ivy would work if not in rain shadow and the ever-reliable Mexican fleasbane – to create lush follows of foliage. DON’T be afraid of height! As the season goes on, these containers will boast towering Angelica and persicaria foliage. They all jostle in together to create walls of lush interest. When square footage underfoot is tight, use what you have in the corners. Big backdrops make for green escapes!

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Inspiring us all from her balcony garden, Vincent has been sharing videos on how to ‘garden up’, using the most of the space you have, as well as houseplant care and maintenance.

4. Charlie Hart @hartgardener

Hart’s recent book No Fear Gardening is a great tome for anyone still wondering whether to get their hands dirty in either a plant pot, or a large flower bed.

5. Timothy Hammond @bigcitygardener

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If you only have shaded areas left in garden don’t be discouraged. You can still grow more food you just have to plant accordingly. Some plants need full sun while others can do well with little and partial sun. While some of the plants on this graphic also thrive in full sun they can also do their thing in shade. 🤙🏾 I have tried planting other vegetables besides these in shaded areas. I grew tomatoes in a heavily shaded area at an old garden. The tomatoes didn’t get nearly as large as the full sun counterparts but it did produce for a longer period of time. A little trade off. In order to create shaded areas I usually try to under plant my taller crops with any of the crops that are still able to produce in the shade. For example in the middle of the summer underneath my okra you’re liable to find carrots growing. So give the shade lovers a shot. What other shade lovers do you plant ? ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ #justgrowit #alwaysgrowingfood #HoustonTexas #stayhome #homegrown #stayhomeandgarden #getgrowing #socialdistancing #citygarden #🇯🇲#Jamaican #inmygarden #urbangardener #organicgardening #gardentips #shade #gardeningtips #gardening101 #youcanfindmeinmygarden #organicgarden #springgarden #zone9garden #instagarden #thehappygardeninglife

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Houston, Texas-based Hammond has plenty of advice, including handy wallchart-style posts to help you identify plants that’ll grow in different conditions.

6. Tom Hart Dyke @lullingstonecastle

Hart Dyke’s story is astounding – he was searching for plants in the Colombian jungle when he was kidnapped. Thankfully he returned home safe, and now opens his ‘world garden’ to the public. For now, see it online – including an impressive array of cacti.

7. Diarmuid Gavin @diarmuidgavin

Offering live Q&A sessions on his Instagram stories every week, TV favourite Gavin offers a warts-and-all feed, including mulching!

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