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October gardening update “I’m itching to deadhead your garden” is a phrase I often hear from patients’ relatives and friends who visit the therapy garden. They want to tidy up, snip off and weed out. I have to tell them “I want it to look like that!” Of course I could sweep all those leaves up or deadhead all the spent flowers and foliage, but that would be denying my patients a rehabilitative opportunity and a lot of fun. In fact, I positively encourage a little wildness, so that there are visible and purposeful tasks for patients to do in therapy sessions. These pain management patients (left) are engaged in autumn tidying. I am showing them how to use lightweight, long handled tools such as the leaf grabber and the jumbo leaf sack to make these gardening tasks easier and safer. They are pacing themselves with small timers so that they don’t overdo it. When their timers start beeping they will change their posture by moving to a different task, and reset their timers to their known baselines. At the same time they will be using sensible lifting and handling techniques and maintaining a safe posture to protect their backs and minimise any strain that might exacerbate their pain. Working in small groups means that patients can enjoy the social aspects of gardening, while at the same time acting as mentors for each other. The hospital runs three-week pain management courses for people with chronic pain. Often these people have never met anyone else with a similar condition until they come on the course. The opportunity to share life stories and experiences of coping is invaluable.