Keeping healthy 🚲💞

One of the most calming activities I can do is take a walk and or 🚲👍🏻 in nature. Passing through a forest or woodland can bring me relief from the “stresses” of  my everyday life. It can reconnect me, the moment I go in to the freshness and vastness, to nature’s bounty.

Passing through parks and nature reserves I can experience a joy often lost in the distractions of my life. This subtle joy can be an antidote to depression and apathy. A non pharmaceutical treatment that almost everyone has access to. 🌿🍃🍂🍀🌳🌾

Keeping healthy 🚲💞

“Wind fresh on my face. Pedd🚴ling at a sedate pace. Escaping monkey mind. Joy I find! 🥳”

I have to find ways to remind myself of the reasons I enjoy life. Sadately 🚴ling through the countryside and seeing nature in it’s “just there, being” existing. Stopping every now and then, to snap a picture 📸, to take a look. 👀

And breathe her in. 🌿🍃🍂🍀🌳🌾

Keeping healthy 🚲💞

I am at peace in the countryside.🌾I feel recharged. I feel it in parks too, anywhere I get access to nature. Where there are trees, bushes and green things. 🌾🌿

“Chill. Riding in sunbeams. Aware of daydreams. See the bigger picture. Am one with Mother Nature. 😎🌞🌾🌳🌾”

I like to take my time. I enjoy not being in a rush, putting down the clock. Having free time to do some wondering. 🌾🚴🚶🌾 

I imagine we explore again 😎😊 I imagine I explore. I check in with not knowing, I touch base with “don’t know”. 🤭🌳🌾

In nature I remember the flow, to get out of my own way. I’m a part of nature, it’s not all about me. The buzzing creatures, the birds and the little beasts will continue free, without little ol’ me. 😉 🌿🍃🍂🍀🌳🌾

Keeping healthy 🚲💞

The other attraction in nature for me is the growing things. Trees, 🌲 Bushes, 🌾Plants, 🍃🌿 And Weeds. 🍀

I love the foliage. 🌿🍃 The little flowers that bloom 🌻🌷🌺🌼 I love to watch the bees 🐝 pollinate. Birds chirping, encouraging me to sing 🐦 Reminding me to love, a reminder to care. 💞 

This is why I love 🏠🌿🍃 plants. I’m connecting to nature while at home in the house. Bringing little pieces of foliage home and watching 👀 them thrive in my environment. 🌿🍃🍂🍀🌳🌾

Keeping healthy 🚲💞

I’m aware of the need to be connected more regularly. I’m aware of what I readily turn my eyes to. 👁️👁️ Nature happily growing under my care. Turning my indoor living space into a thriving fresh atmosphere that rechargers me. 🌿🌻🌬️🌀

Creating an indoor wilderness has helped me feel less depressed, less lonely and unloved. 😔🤗🥰 🌿🍃🍂🍀🌳🌾

Keeping healthy 🚲💞

“Chill pill, take what you will. Without a walk in nature, my life’s getting ill. 🤒🤧😷”  

“Sunbeams, the breeze.🌬️ I peddle with ease 🚴 Stop whenever I want, wherever I please.”

When I return home I spend a little time with my plants, in hopes they’ll pick up on my wilderness vibe. 😁 I look at and appreciate each one of them 🌿💞

In the next few weeks I’ll share how 🏠 plants keep me grounded, caring and loving. 🌿🍃🍂🍀🌳🌾

Keeping succulents here in the UK can be a challenge. But a challenge worthy of any plant lovers out there. They make a beautiful addition to any collection for your home and gardens.

Two of the biggest challenges with keeping succulents in the home as house plants is their lighting requirements and watering needs. 

Hailing from desert climates such as you find in Africa, South Africa and South America it can be difficult to recreate the right conditions in our homes. But fear not. They can adapt to life in our homes well given the correct treatment.

There are various varieties of succulents that one can find in the UK and most require very similar treatment. I’ll be giving general care tips later.

I fell in love with succulents when I discovered them about 15 years ago. I was attracted to them because they were like cactus without the spikes. I wasn’t a fan of spiky plants at that time so I was overjoyed to find these cute little plants.

Well the first batch I bought didn’t fare well unfortunately, over watering being the main cause and of course light requirements. These were new to me and I treated them as I did my other plants, not realising their needs were different to the usual leafy houseplant. However I did not give up on them. 

Over the next few years I researched each new succulent I purchased and in no time I had them thriving. I haven’t looked back since and they have become a staple in my collection ever since.

Care tips to keep your succulents thriving indoors:

• Light requirements:
• In order to keep your succulents compact and looking great as opposed to stretched out they need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day. Southeast and southwest facing window sills work well and south facing windows will be great for the majority of the succulent types. It’s best to research the individual plants as some need less direct sunlight than others but in the home most do well with as much as you can give them.

• Watering needs:
• In my experience the vast majority of succulents like to dry right out between waterings. I usually wait till I see a tiny amount of wrinkles appear on the leaves before giving them a good soaking. I’ve found bottom watering to best suit them. They do not, in general, like to be misted as this can cause the leaves to rot.

• Soil requirements:
• My succulents do really well in a mixture of cactus soil, succulent soil and orchid bark. I tend to mix 30% of each soil and 40% orchid bark.

• How to propergate:
• Succulents are one the easiest plants to propergate. Just one little leaf can give you a whole new plant. I tend to place the leaves on a tray and allow them to sprout roots, which they will do rather quickly, then place them on some shallow soil to allow the roots to acclimate to the new soil environment. In no time you will see tiny baby plants appear at the base of each leaf. I mist them occasionally. They can easily be propergated by cutting the top off and planting directly into soil.

So if you have tried and failed to keep these beautiful spike-less cactus I would definitely recommend having another go. I’m glad I stuck with it as succulents have become a favourite of mine. Once you get the hang of their needs they become easy houseplants to care for. 🍃