Green Therapy with Camilla Jørvad

“Lots of people consider rain bad weather and I’ve never understood that,” says gardener and photographer Camilla Jørvad.

“I think people have forgotten that our food needs water, just as it needs sunlight. We’ve become removed from nature and the process of growing our own food.”

Most of us can probably relate. Life in a city or a suburb can feel very disconnected from nature. But, as Camilla has found, gardening – working on your own little plot of land (or even a window box) – can work wonders for the body and mind.

Here she tells us all about her garden and how green therapy has helped to ease her stress and depression. She also offers some tips for getting started with gardening for anyone looking for their own nature fix.

Camilla's Wild Cottage Garden

Camilla’s garden is completely of her own creation. “We bought the farmhouse from my husband’s parents. When we moved in it was mostly a bare field for grazing animals and a handful of beautiful old apple trees,” she tells us.

Taking inspiration from her grandfather’s garden, where she spent magical summer holidays during her childhood, (and still taking his gardening advice, 95 years in the making), there’s now an orchard, a few courtyards, a cut flower and vegetable garden, a dahlia patch, a couple of meadows, a woodland garden and a space just for the kids.

“There is still lots to be done,” says Camilla. But she feels the framework of the garden is now complete. “It’s quite informal, with a wonderful mix of flowers, "weeds", vegetables, fruit and berries.”

A Change of Pace

Camilla’s life hasn’t always been so rooted in the garden. For ten years Camilla travelled the world as a destination wedding photographer.

But it became too much. “The pressure of juggling a life on the road, motherhood, my own introvert personality and my inherent need for peace and quiet got the better of me,” Camilla tells us. “I became quite ill with stress and, following that, depression.”

Listening to this “not-so-gentle nudge” from her body, Camilla started to slow things down. She now works as a freelance lifestyle photographer for small enterprises (with a focus on nature and sustainability) and rarely travels.

She also works to grow food for her family and organic cut flowers for a local wedding planner. And it’s this time spent in the garden that has been instrumental, says Camilla, in improving her mental health.

Her wild cottage garden has become a space for meditation, for creativity, for physical graft and for finding the peace and quiet she craved.

“Many days, all that can be heard are the wild birds, our cockerel, the rustling of the wind through the trees, and when the wind is just right, the waves crashing against the shore down in the bay. (Although to be honest, there’s also sometimes the sound of my two kids fighting!)”

Green Therapy

So what does she feel is so therapeutic about time spent in the garden? “Gardening can be pretty physical. And physical labour is not only healthy for the body,” she says, “It also quiets my mind and the negative thought patterns and fears of failure that I struggle with.”

It also helps her to sleep better. “Before, I always used to be exhausted but never tired, because my head was full but my body hadn’t been used. I had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. But after a day of real, active gardening, I sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.”

 

Simple, repetitive activities – like deadheading flowers or watering plants – are therapeutic too, Camilla continues.

“We have an old rainwater well in our courtyard that I use to water the garden. Standing there with the hose on quiet evenings as the sun is going down, watching the water soak into the soil, watching the drops light up on the leaves and petals and knowing that I am literally bringing things to life is extremely meditative.”

"The plants don't care how I look or what I'm feeling that day. And just the act of making things grow connects me with the natural world in a profound way.”

Working with Nature

Working with nature, rather than against it, is central to the peace and satisfaction Camilla gets from her garden. Her aim has always been to rewild the farm’s outside space, letting so-called weeds appear and allowing wildlife habitats to flourish.

Close to the house, the garden has some structure, then becomes more organic and integrates with the surrounding countryside the further away from the house you get.

“Slowly, year by year, we have been rewilding the area,” says Camilla, “Keeping it chemical-free, planting hundreds and hundreds of trees and shrubs, and leaving many areas untouched.”

Over the years the garden has developed its own natural balance, so pests and diseases take care of themselves. And every season the family discover new species of wildlife that are making the garden their home.

“When I garden – with nature instead of against it,” says Camilla, “- my life is filled with purpose, peace and belonging in a way that I’ve not been able to find in any other activity. It just feels like that is the way I am supposed to move, work, eat, sleep, and be.”

“Sometimes, when I think about climate change and how incredibly huge a task lies ahead, I can get depressed and feel like nothing really matters or makes a difference. But when I focus only and specifically on my own garden and the land I own and the small changes I can make for the better, I feel empowered and hopeful.”

The Open Garden

In May of next year, Camilla plans to open up her garden to visitors. She hopes they will feel at home there amongst all the life, scents and sounds she has helped to create. And that they will experience some of the benefits she has from being amongst nature.

“I really want it to be a kind of sanctuary,” she says, “A place to come, fully immerse yourself in the moment and the quiet, and leave your busy life behind for a while. I really hope that visitors will leave here with a feeling of calm in their hearts.”Thinking that you could use a little green therapy in your own life? Here Camilla shares her tips for getting started.

Camilla's Gardening Tips

TIP #01
Take Your Time

 

Take some time, ideally a whole year, before you make any changes to a new garden. That way you get to see what already exists during every season. Especially when it comes to old or large trees or shrubs that have taken years and years to develop.

TIP #02
Plant Big Things First

 

Plant big things first. They’ll create much-needed shelter for flowers later on. And hedges, shrubs and trees help to create structure (a sort of skeleton for the garden), even when it’s bare in winter.

TIP #03
Be Selective With Plants

 

Don’t pick 20 different plant varieties, leaving you space for just one of each. Instead, choose a few plant varieties you just LOVE and plant three to five of each around the garden. It will create a much calmer look and feel.

TIP #04
Pick Plants that will Thrive

 

Choose the right plants for the spot, the soil and the climate. Otherwise you face an expensive uphill battle.

TIP #05
Don't be Scared!

 

Most importantly – don't be scared and don't take things (or yourself) too seriously. You will most likely fail and/or change your mind many times over. Gardening takes patience and a willingness to evolve. You have to accept that you and your garden are moulded by the conditions just as much as you mould them.

Huge thanks to Camilla for sharing her garden, her experiences and her beautiful photography with us. You can see more of her images on Instagram and read more about the wild cottage garden on her website