The millennials swapping doom-scrolling for gardening
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- Young people are turning to gardening as a source of joy, serenity and community amid the pressures of digital life and wider economic and social uncertainty.
- Hannah Matthews, who has more than 70,000 Instagram and TikTok followers, said gardening helped her cope with the deaths of her father and grandmother in 2023.
- She and other gardening enthusiasts promote growing plants in any available space, from gardens to kitchen windowsills.
When Hannah Matthews found herself grieving the deaths of her father and grandmother within a year, she began spending early mornings in her garden, pulling weeds and tending plants.
The 31-year-old now shares gardening videos with more than 70,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok. She describes the online gardening community as “booming” and says it offers a calmer alternative to endless scrolling.
My mind would be really busy, and I'd suddenly be out here at 7am pulling up weeds.
“It brings me joy, and hopefully when someone else is just kind of doom-scrolling, they get a bit of serenity in their day as well,” Matthews said. She sees gardening, cooking and sewing as ways for her generation to push back against a hyper-digital world that can feel all-consuming.
It brings me joy, and hopefully when someone else is just kind of doom-scrolling, they get a bit of serenity in their day as well.
Matthews, who lives in Newport, said young people face a difficult combination of rising living costs, climate change, a poor jobs market and artificial intelligence. Gardening gives people a way to control a small patch of space, whether they have a garden, a balcony or only pots on a kitchen windowsill.
She acknowledged that owning a house and having outdoor space is a privilege. Still, she hopes her posts show that growing something by hand, planning for the next season and watching it flourish can bring comfort wherever people live.
It is a tough time for young people.
About this summary
Originally published by BBC News. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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