Coronavirus: NI women discuss life in lockdown without a garden

With a strict lockdown in place having an outdoor space to catch a breath of fresh air is a Godsend.

But not everyone has access to their own garden, and as I found out it’s something people often overlook until faced with isolation akin to imprisonment.

In Belfast the situation is heightened with space at a premium in some areas and people living in terraced housing, flats and apartments with only communal greens areas rather than personal gardens.

Having shown coronavirus symptoms, Adrianne Elson and her partner have been told to self-isolate for two weeks in their Cathedral Quarter flat with no outdoor access and are finding life tough.

In east Belfast, Hazel Campbell is feeling the pinch of loneliness in her terraced home with limited outdoor space.

In the south of the city, Karen Fitzmaurice, a fellow JPI Media employee, is teased by the fact Botanic Gardens are right outside the window of her flat but she’s only allowed to visit once a day.

Hazel Campbell, who lives in a terraced house in east Belfast, said: “I used to live in a house with a massive back garden not far from here. My daughter lives in it now, but I can’t go there because of the lockdown. She’d come here to bring me things from time to time, but she can’t come in of course.

“It’s times like this I really miss having a garden. When I was younger I didn’t really bother with the garden much.

“It was maybe when I was in my 40s, that’s when I started pottering about the garden. I had depression and it was the first thing that helped me, just getting out into the garden everyday. Just to be out in the air and hear the birds singing.”

Adrianne Elson, a transgender woman who lives in an apartment in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter, has no access to outdoor space because herself and her partner Michael have been told to self-isolate after exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19.

She said:“The lack of exposure to nature I find a little disconcerting.

“The only natural thing we can see is some very bare looking trees at the back of St Anne’s Cathedral, everything else is manmade.”

The Translink employee added: “Before this one of the biggest pleasures I have is walking. I used to adore walking around Stormont when I lived in east Belfast.

“I’ve got a fairly physical job on the railways, and being outside, it is an anathema to me to be spending so much time indoors and inactive.”

Karen Fitzmaurice thought she was blessed with an abundance of outdoor space when she moved into her one-bedroom apartment in south Belfast looking out onto Botanic Gardens.

She said: “I moved in September last year. I’ve always lived in a house but the location of the apartment I just really loved – it’s my aunt’s apartment who passed away year and half ago.

“I never thought about not having a garden as my previous house was just a small backyard anyway. So it definitely didn’t put me off as I kind of see Botanic Gardens as my back garden as it’s literally 30 seconds and I’m at the gate of Botanic Gardens.

“I definitely do miss not having that extra outside space that most people have. It’s like another room or another place to go.

“I’m literally in a one bed apartment so it has been hard especially with being from the part of the country I am from – Portaferry – when you walk outside your front door and you’ve Strangford Lough on your doorstep and there’s some great walks at home.

She added: “Especially as I’m now working from home as well I’m literally here 24/7. But I do have an amazing view from my apartment where I’ve set up my laptop from.

“It overlooks the Lagan so I get to see people out walking their dogs or running or families out with their kids so it’s nearly like a comfort to me seeing that.”

No one could have predicted the measures that would have to be taken in light of such a pandemic, but all three women said they are very limited by the outdoor space, or lack thereof, at their homes.

Hazel said: “I’ve just got a wee tiny garden out the front, a brick wall and about four foot behind it.

“What I do is I have my window boxes all year round on the sill of the bay window. For example at Christmas I’ll do them in red and white.

“I’ve got a Belfast sink and I put plants in it. That’s how I keep myself sane.

“I don’t have a garden out the back. It’s just a yard with a couple of pots in it. I can get out for fresh air, there’s enough room to stand outside the front or the back, but I wouldn’t call either of them a garden.

“You certainly wouldn’t be doing laps of for exercise.”

Karen is in a position where at least she is allowed to go outside for exercise once a day and also can sit at their front of her property: “I’m in an apartment block of eight apartments.

“We all have our own outside front door so I can go out the front with a chair and sit and get some fresh air as well.

“I’ve found it difficult to get motivated to be honest but the fact we are only allowed out once a day makes you really appreciate that time so I go out every day for that fresh air and space and time away from the apartment.”

Adrianne, who is originally from England, said how difficult it was not having relatives nearby: “Our gas ran out and we couldn’t go out to the shops to top the gas card up. We had to get someone to run an errand to top up the card.

It flags up all these practical problems, maybe ones people who have family nearby wouldn’t think of.

“I tend to like to think to the future and plan ahead, but through what we’re experiences here I’ve learnt to live from day to day and even from hour to hour, to appreciate the things I’ve got.

“Having a garden at this time would be amazing, to be able to stretch your legs, to have a sense of space.”

Adrianne and her partner Michael have been told to self-isolate due to coronavirus symptoms, and as such their only access to fresh air has been via an open window.

Adrianne said: “Our GPs have told both Michael and I that we are showing signs of the Covid-19 virus and we have to self-isolate for a two week period. Michael is in the high risk category and I’m a key worker with Translink.

“We’re in a really quite small flat. The only way we can get fresh air is to open the windows.”

She said: “I was sitting here on Saturday night. I could hear the Albert Clock striking and that was the only sound. It was in complete contrast to a normal Saturday night on Hill Street.

“Looking out the window I became acutely aware of the sense of isolation. That street is only yards away but it might as well be miles away. It is out of bounds. I’ve spent more time looking out the window this last week than I have done since I was a child. As adults we’re all too busy for that kind of thing.

“It’s like watching a television screen, seeing other people’s lives. I can see the trains going by and that reminds me that work is going on without me. I miss being part of society, keeping the wheels of industry turning.

“I’m torn between the sense of responsibility for my partner and the duty to society. The extent of our world is the four rooms we’ve got.

“The absolute Godsend is I’m an avid reader.

“On the purely selfish side, one of the things I miss the most is cask beer, you can only get it in pubs, so that totally unavailable.”

Having been on the waiting list for a hip operation for two years, Hazel’s upcoming operation had to be cancelled due to coronavirus precautionary measures.

The 65-year-old said: “I was due to get my operation on April 13. I’d been on the waiting list for two years. I’m in absolute agony with it, but what can you do? Other things are more important. I just have to persevere and get on with it. I’m pretty upbeat. I used to have depression but I’m over that now.

“I’ve a lot of good memories of holidays and things like that to keep me going. I’ve started doing a wee journal about my isolation.”

Describing her new routine, she said: “It’s just me and the dog here. I take him out for a walk every morning.

“I go out once a week for shopping. I use a mobility scooter when I go out.

“Things can be difficult in the mobility scooter getting far enough away from people.

“I miss going and sitting with my friends and having lunch and a cup of tea and a chinwag.

“I miss my friends, my family and my grandkids.”

Colm Joseph, a garden designer from Dunmurry who picked up a top award at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show, said having a garden was a vital resource during lockdown, but even those without one could introduce nature inside their homes.

He said: “You think about those communal outside spaces like parks when you’re moving into a house but maybe the outside space at your own place is taken for granted a little bit. Now it’s come into its own for a lot of people.”

He said for people who don’t have outside space or are not allowed to leave their homes, house plants were an option: “They’re a way for people to have some of the benefits of a garden and gardening but indoors.

“The house plant market fuelled by social media and Instagram has really exploded. There are a lot of plant nurseries and growers out there who are still doing home deliveries and mail order supplies of plants and plant food.”

He continued: “For me the benefit of doing that is the same logic that applies to a garden. What you’re doing is investing your time in nurturing something that’s life affirming, that is inherently hopeful.

“You’re looking after something living. That’s a really positive thing to do in these uncertain times.

“For those who have a limited amount of space, or maybe no garden but window sills, they can buy seeds for vegetables and start to grow their own projects from a couple of containers. All you need is compost and seeds. In a couple of weeks you may have some lettuce to eat.

“For me, what better way to spend this time when you’re isolated than investing in something living for the future.”

He commented: “In a sense we’re fortunate it’s come about for us here in the UK and Ireland at the beginning of Spring, it would be much worse if we were sitting here in November with winter and Christmas ahead. Instead we’ve got all of Spring and summer awaiting to unfurl ahead of us.

“Nature is bigger than us. It’s going to be there when all of this blows over. Nature is permanent. Engaging in that is a really good positive, psychological thing to do.”

He said: “For those who have gardens, even if you’re not growing plants but using the space as an extension of the space you have in your house. Even if it’s just having a tidy up, it’s worth having that extra space and spending a little bit more time in the fresh air.

Colm, who now lives with his wife in Cambridge, said: “If you’ve got a garden get out there, spend a time in it. Engaging hands on with the natural world is extremely good for your mental health as well as your physical health.

“A lot of people are going to be spending more time than ever before engaging with their gardens.”

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