We December

Monty is promoting plant health to help combat global hunger

Monty in new United Nations

Vicarious garden visiting
Be an armchair traveller this winter, to over 200 of the world’s most
spectacular gardens – from English cottage gardens to Japanese Zen
landscapes – including the National Orchid Garden, Singapore Botanic
Gardens (pictured). The Garden: Elements and Styles by Toby
Musgrave is published by Phaidon, £49.95 (phaidon.com)
role fighting hunger
Monty is promoting plant health as a vital tool in the fight
against global hunger, in his new role as Special Goodwill
Ambassador for the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation
(FAO). “Most of our diet is based on plants. For sustainability
of supply and best nutrition it is vital that we protect, develop
and value healthy plants,” Monty tells us. He also urges a
move to a more plant-based diet, saying this is something
“we all know we need to be adopting.” But he says this alone
is not enough, and that we all need to pay more attention to
where our food is coming from and how it is grown. “It is
possible to have junk plants as well as junk food,” he says.
The FAO is a division of the United Nations that works to
eliminate hunger and improve food security.

Green your front garden to reduce stress

Brightening up bare front gardens with plants relieves stress as much as eight mindfulness sessions,
says the Royal Horticultural Society. Residents in Salford, Manchester, reported lower stress levels
after researchers planted shrubs, climbers and bedding outside their front doors. “Planting even a
small part of your front garden can help,” said RHS Wellbeing Fellow Dr Lauriane Suyin Chalmin-Pui.

Playing outdoors
keeps kids healthy
WORDS: SALLY NEX; MIRANDA JANATKA; CATHERINE MANSLEY
PHOTOS: CLAIRE TAKACS PHOTOGRAPHY; GETTY/FEIFEI CUI-

Scientists in Finland have proved what

PAOLUZZO, FRANCONIAPHOTO, RABBITTI; JASON INGRAM

many parents have known for years:

playing outdoors and getting mucky
makes kids healthier. Children whose
nursery playgrounds were transformed
into mini-forests had significantly
boosted immune systems, potentially
protecting them from diseases such
as eczema, asthma and diabetes.
“I’ve never known a child afraid of
getting dirty,” says former Blue Peter
gardener Chris Collins. “It’s in their
Letting children get hands-on in the garden can give their immune system a boost souls to be near nature.”

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