Muddy Boots: Special Guest, Conchi Batson. Gardening for Mental Health.

Today’s guest is someone whose journey into gardening began during a challenging period in her life. After battling with some mental health struggles a few years ago, Conchi Batson discovered the healing power of gardening — finding peace, purpose and therapy with her hands deep in the soil. What started as a personal lifeline soon became a passion, leading Conchi to study a Certificate 3 in horticulture at TAFE and, in her FIRST year of study, create a garden that earned a bronze medal in the Achievable Gardens category at the 2026 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. Amazing!!! Conchi’s Instagram motto says it beautifully: “Digging in the garden for better mental health.” Today Keith and I are going to chat with Conchi about gardening as therapy, finding confidence through plants, what it was like designing a medal-winning garden, and why the garden can be such a powerful place for healing and hope. Do you have a question for the Muddy Boots team? Please send it to: [email protected] ❧ Muddy Boots website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/ ❧ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6twIAE0... ❧ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast... ❧ Instagram:   / muddybootspodcast   ❧ Facebook:   / muddybootspodcasts   ❧ Elisabeth Kingman Facebook:   / elisabethgardengirl   ❧ Elisabeth Kingman Instagram:   / elisabethgardengirl   ❧ Keith Edwards Instagram:   / ke_landscape_consultant   ❧ Keith Edwards Landscape Design: https://keithedwards.com.au/ Sponsor links: ❧ Clyde Compost: https://clydecompost.com ❧ The Plant Runner: https://theplantrunner.com ❧ Backyard Botanist: https://backyardbotanist.com.au ❧ BioStim: https://biostim.com.au Muddy Boots is filmed, mixed and edited by Brett Kingman.    / brettkingman