The garden is often seen as a refuge, a place to forget worldly cares, removed from the “real” life that lies outside. But when we get our hands in the earth, we connect with the cycle of life in nature through which destruction and decay are followed by regrowth and renewal. Prominent psychiatrist and psychotherapist Sue Stuart-Smith draws on her grandfather’s return from the First World War, Sigmund Freud’s obsession with flowers and interviews with people from gardening projects in prisons and hospitals to illustrate how gardening can answer deep existential needs. In addition Dr Stuart-Smith will present findings from recent research demonstrating that connecting to nature alleviates symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression. Based on her bestselling Sunday Times Book of the Year.