For many, gardening is more than just tending to plants; it’s a therapeutic activity. It serves as a form of meditation, helping to temporarily escape troubles.

Here are a few gardeners who found solace and overcame grief through gardening:

1.Sushma Reddy: ‘It Heals Me’

After her son was diagnosed with ADHD, the software engineer quit her job to focus on him. Waiting outside his therapy sessions regularly for three hours took a toll on her.

She turned to gardening to fight her depression. Starting with a money plant in 2018, the Bengaluru resident now grows over 300 plants, 70 of which are fruit trees on her terrace.

“Gardening is therapeutic for me. It healed and grounded me, and made me a better mother,” Sushma Reddy shares.

2. Surbhi Yadav: ‘Gardening Got Me Out of a Dark Place’

This Meerut resident’s mother-in-law passed away during the second wave of COVID-19, leaving behind a pall of gloom.

The 30-year-old started channelling her inner creativity to overcome her depression. She transformed her mother-in-law’s ancestral bottles, matkas, lanterns, and even a fan into beautiful planters.

She started adding plants to the planters, boasting over 300 plants today. To share her tips with the world, Surbhi runs a YouTube and Instagram channel called @chalocreativitykaren.

“I slipped into depression and would spend hours overthinking. My plants pulled me out of it and have made me a happier person,” she shares.

3. Mayank Sharma: ‘It Helped Channel My Grief After I Lost My Dad’

After losing his father in 2015, the Delhi resident embarked on a green adventure in his memory.

“We weren’t prepared to let go of my father or his memories. He had planted an aloe vera plant on the terrace the day before he passed away. As kids too, he was always growing okra and brinjal to educate us about how food is grown,” he says.

He runs a YouTube channel ‘Baking Gardener Vlogs’ to share tips on urban gardening, organic farming, and a sustainable lifestyle.

4. Ravneet Kaur: ‘I Grew Plants for My Father’s Health’

When Ravneet Kaur’s father was unwell in 2019, she grew her first plant, wheatgrass. She says there has been no looking back for her ever since.

Today, Ravneet’s terrace garden in her Ludhiana home is an oasis of green, with over 200 pots and plants. She shares tips on Instagram through @Haryali_by_Cherie.

She grows everything from fruits and vegetables, and has huge flower beds around her terrace of almost 2,000 square feet.

5. Saurabh Tripathi: ‘Gardening Came to My Rescue After Job Loss’

The 2008 recession led to Saurabh Tripathi, an engineer, being forced to quit his job due to a salary downgrade. That’s when his green thumb led him to start a nursery in Lucknow.

“Gardening was my hobby. We always had a small garden where little flowers and other outdoor plants were grown. So, I thought why not start a nursery as a hobby,” he says.

He grows several vegetables on his 500-sq-ft terrace garden, and even sells his homegrown produce. He has also expanded to horticulture, floriculture, landscaping, and garden designing.