MY job in these 500 or so words is to get you up, out and into the garden. By the time you are reading this it is probably the merry month of May, the hawthorns will be heavy with blossom and a rich freshness of a world reborn will be all around you .. if you care to notice that is.

Our world is almost completely divorced from our connection with the sacred and mystical world of nature, where our headlong dash into consumerism means we often miss what is going on around us and I firmly believe our gardens and plots are the antidote to this, and much more besides.

Some of the greatest and oldest gardens of the world were created for just this purpose.

All centres of great political and spiritual power had, at their heart, a great garden.

Think Versailles, the Alhambra Palace, right through to the humble administrator's garden.

In their world, where major decisions were to be made, a world full of petty rivalries and gossip, the garden was the one and only place they could retreat.

A place to reflect upon life's true meanings, a place to connect us with a greener, more perfect vision of the world.

A near perfect vision of reality where the world of man disappears beneath the sensual play of water, symmetry and light.

But what has this got to do with our suburban plots I hear you ask?

They do not resemble those great spaces made by the ultra rich and powerful.

But my view is that maybe they do not have the appearance of the grand estates, but it is their function that is the same.

We keep hearing of the garden as an extension of the house, another room so to speak, but it is much more than this.

The calming and soothing effect of being sat by water, surrounded by plants, birds and insects, is something no room in the house can provide.

Our gardens, great and small, serve a common goal and always will. They are a place for renewal and refreshment.

Maybe just to work out some of life's bigger questions; why am I here? Where do I go?

However, there is a but' so back to why I am writing this. Like all things in life, I reckon the salvation you receive out of a garden is given back in equal measure to the effort you put in.

So get out, get stuck in with the family, sow some seeds and reap the rewards.

Happy gardening.