How Canberra's wild summer weather has made gardening a popular activity

The latest wet weather and subsequent sunshine has created an ideal environment for outdoor plants to thrive, which couple Kate Munro and Tyler Grindal say has helped them significantly since the latest COVID wave.

"It's the sense of satisfaction from watching the process. To planting a seed and then nurturing it and watching it become an actual thing of substance, like it's something tangible that I can watch grow and pick and turn into food and a meal," Ms Munro said.

"There's something oddly satisfying, especially the pumpkins, watching them take over the entire garden is really fun to see."

"Tyler will get out and help, like mowing the lawn or weeding but I don't think he gets as much enjoyment out of it as I do, I think he does it more out of a necessity while our puppy Otto has almost no interest in my garden at all."

Based in Florey, the household experienced the violent storms back in early January, with streets still full of debris and fallen trees. However when it comes to the backyard, Ms Munro says the wild weather wasn't too bad.

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"The hail I think set it back a couple of weeks. I think I was lucky that the plants were already well establsihed enough that they could bounce back," she said.

"It looked a lot worse than it was, I think it was more probably an aesthetic damage than anything else.

"Although it was devastating because I had just found the first couple of small pumpkins which did not survive the storm because the hail was the same size as the budding pumpkins."

The nurseries across Canberra have been doing well during the summer period, with manager of the Heritage Nursery Yarralumla Scott Burns saying there has been a steady flow.

"It has been wonderfully busy and it has just continued," Mr Burns said.

"Everyone's been very conscious and wearing masks and doing the right thing which is fantastic to see as well."

"The outside part of the nursery is over 4000 square metres so we can have I think 750 people out there so we've got a huge area, so the feeling I get is everyone feels very comfortable and they can walk around without being in a crowd."

The popularity of gardening is something Mr Burns says links significantly with how it helps people's mental health, particularly during a pandemic.

"It's always been known that gardening is really good for your general fitness. Getting your hands in the earth and doing that sort of stuff is just good therapy because it's so relaxing and feels good," he said.

"You can also nurture the plant, see it grow. If it's something like flowers, it's going to bloom and I want to say that flowers feed your soul while the veggies feed your body."

Larger suppliers of gardening products have also noticed the increasing popularity over the summer, with Bunnings area manager David Williams positive about customer engagement.

"We know people like to get out in to their backyards in summer, especially those spending more time at home this year," Mr Williams said.

"We've seen an increase in the sale of gardening supplies and lawn care products as Canberrans continue to undertake projects in the garden and following the recent high rainfalls, we know some lawns are in need of more attention than normal."

"Products such as outdoor furniture and BBQs have also been popular as people look to update their outdoor spaces to entertain over the summer period."

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