• Plants & Gardening

    The 5 Best Gardening Books by English Experts

    The 5 Best Gardening Books by English Experts, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2022/04/08/gardening-books/(opens in a new tab), #gardening #books #british #english #gardendesign #inspiration #garden #plants

    When I peruse my bookshelf, I often gravitate toward the same old cluster of gardening books. They’re by the most prominent British horticulturalists of the 19th and 20th centuries. The designers who built the most spectacular estates in England. They experimented with the concepts of outdoor rooms, mixed borders, and designing with focal points or natural features. While classic European gardens featured the formality of hedges and geometric patterns, these British visionaries broke away from that formality. They created a new, inventive, naturalistic art. The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude…

  • Plants & Happiness

    Why Do Plants Make Us Happier? Five Fascinating Reasons

    Part-shade garden border, Why Do Plants Make Us Happier? Five Fascinating Reasons, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2021/11/08/plants-make-us-happier/(opens in a new tab), #plants #happiness #plantsmakeushappier #garden #mentalhealth #stress #destressing #stressrelief

    When I was a professional gardener, I made a lot of people happy by helping them with their gardens. Usually, I either created and installed a new garden or maintained the one they already had. Regardless, after my work was finished, my clients often told me their garden was their happy place. It relieved them from stress. Reset their energy. I understood this since my own garden made me happy too, even when there was a lot of work to do. So I started to wonder: why exactly did plants…

  • Books

    My First Nonfiction Book Explores How to be Happy Through Plants!

    Karen Hugg Leaf Your Troubles Behind Desk, My First Nonfiction Book Explores How to be Happy Through Plants!, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2021/11/08/happy-through-plants/, #books, #writing, #plants, #leafyourtroublesbehind, #happiness, #greenleisure, #stress, #destressing

    Hi everyone, You may have noticed that last year I got interested in the mental health benefits of plants. I spent a bunch of time reading up on the latest science to see if a theory I’ve had for a while held any water. Mainly, that plants can help us be happier even if you don’t have a garden. What I found impressed me. The short answer is yes but how you go about engaging with plants makes all the difference. It’s not like you can say “good morning” to…

  • Books

    Thrilled to Be in The Big Thrill!

    Karen Hugg in garden, Thrilled to Be in The Big Thrill, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2021/09/01/the-big-thrill/, #books, #mysteries, #thrillers, #gardening, #plants, #novel, #HarvestingtheSky, #KarenHugg

    Wow, writing is a long journey but sometimes hard work pays off. I’m excited to let you know I was featured in the The Big Thrill magazine this month. It’s the magazine for the International Thriller Writers Association. Author Jaden Terrell did a terrific job writing the article. We talked about plants, books, writing, me learning guitar (ha!), and more. Oh, and we touched on my new novel, Harvesting the Sky, which comes out on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. It’s about a botanist named Andre who’s trying to keep his…