Many of us have either visited RHS Chelsea or enjoyed coverage on the BBC recently and are now feeling inspired in this sunnier weather to get outside and create a dream garden. Or, it might be that the hankering for more outside space is leading some of us to consider moving to a property which offers this.
According to a recent survey by Colourfence British house hunters would be prepared to pay an average of £35,000 on top of a property value if it had a garden or outdoor space. City dwelling Londoners are willing to pay £82,700 on top of a property value, followed by those in the east of England, who would hand over £49,600.
The survey also revealed that one in 10 of us use our gardens to grow food, while 62% of people said they’d rather have additional outdoor than indoor space.
Much has also been written recently about the wellbeing benefits of having outside space.
Writing in The Guardian last year, secondary school teacher Tom Smart said that after suffering a nervous breakdown ‘nothing has lifted my spirits more or has made me feel saner than my garden’.
He explains: “While I was off work, I threw myself into my garden. I felt like the world around me was a dangerous sea and my garden was a little green life raft. As I worked on the garden, the garden worked on me. I could feel myself, for the first time in a long time, start to relax. As the days lengthened I could feel something inside me begin to lift – literally and metaphorically the clouds were breaking and more sun was touching the ground.”
Speaking about the role horticulture therapy can play in the fight against chronic health conditions, RHS Director of Science, Dr Alistair Griffiths, said last year: “There is a growing acknowledgement that horticulture and gardening can play an important role in alleviating the impact of conditions, including obesity and dementia.”
Gardens serve so many purposes. We learnt, during our support of charity ellenor, how important the hospice garden in Gravesend was to its patients and their families, offering a space for quiet reflection. Gardens can also provide us with an area to relax, somewhere for us to be creative and also a great entertainment space in the summer.
In our home town of Tunbridge Wells, the architect, Decimus Burton, who created some much iconic architecture here also made much of gardens and parkland too. We also feel very blessed, here on the border of Kent and East Sussex, to have access to some of this country’s most iconic gardens, parks and forests.
Whatever property you set your heart on – and whether it comes with a garden or not – our dedicated Residential Property team at CooperBurnett is ready to guide you through the process. We can help with that exciting first purchase, right up to a substantial country property. In fact, our Country Property team can assist with anything from bridleways and footpaths to the development of barns and outbuildings. Happy gardening!
