Gardening 'can change people's world view'

16:53 27th July 2011

Working in a garden or greenhouse can help change people's attitudes about the world, an expert has said.

Tim Rumball, editor of Amateur Gardening magazine, said cultivating plants in an outside space is of "immense personal benefit" to individuals who get involved.

"The act of creating rather than destroying, the act of producing rather than consuming, the act of nurturing - these all have a fundamental effect on the attitude of people who take up gardening," he explained.

Mr Rumball went on to suggest that in terms of changing people's perception of the world and how they interact with it for the better, gardening is a "winner".

His comments come after a recent survey by consumer organisation Which? showed 24 per cent of Brits are now growing their own produce.

The top three reasons cited by the 1,009 members for doing so were increases in food prices (59 per cent), trying to eat more healthily (33 per cent) and having less disposable income to spend on food (22 per cent).