On this the National Trust is right: we should delight in blossom season
Anyone else out there remember the classic kids' TV show: ' Why don't you just switch off your television set and go and do something less boring instead?'
Ironic side-eye hadn't been invented back in the late 1970s so nobody greeted the inherently contradictory premise with anything but untrammelled delight.
Did clips of wholesome children making dens and larkily practising Pooh sticks have us scampering outdoors? Indeed they did, although in fairness there were only three channels.
Here in 2025, it's adults who are being exhorted to get up and out into nature now the temperature is rising. Indeed, the National Trust is suggesting we take 'a blooming break' from our desks in order to enjoy the cherry blossom.
Rest assured, I've just checked and cherry is a native tree species – so we can safely enjoy the display without being subjected to accusations of colonialism or institutional white (and pink) privilege.
Polling by YouGov shows that 94 per cent of people report feeling happy when seeing blossom in the spring – but just one in 10 workers spend breaks outdoors in their nearest green space, which is every bit as short-sighted as staring at a screen all day.
But there's more to budding branches than aesthetics; ecopsychology is the new discipline pointing to the beneficial effects of the natural world on our health. But it's not all in the mind.
It has been scientifically proven that the air in nature is rich in negative ions that paradoxically make us feel more positive. This explains why a day in the country gives us such a glow and why, even on a dull afternoon, we feel boosted by a few hours spent on the coast.
Negative ions are abundant in mountains, waterfalls and beaches. Once we breathe them in and they reach our bloodstream, they produce biochemical reactions that increase levels of the mood chemical serotonin; helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress and boost our daytime energy.
Research from the University of Columbia even shows that for people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and chronic depression, negative ion generators that recreate the effects of being in wild places relieve depression as much as antidepressants. But plug-in air purifiers are no long-term substitute for spring sunshine and a stroll through woodlands drenched in birdsong.
Only a churl could fail to recognise the life-affirming joys of blossom, bluebells and golden daffodils at a point in the year when we all feel in need of colour and beauty.
Telegraph readers are always quick to extol the virtues of gardens and the enriching pleasures of gardening. The iPad generation? Not so much. So why not persuade your hyper-connected nearests and dearests to take proper time out this weekend? Challenge them to venture not just beyond the range of WiFi but way past mobile phone coverage – if they dare.
Their reward will be bountiful; great lungfuls of restorative ions, an appreciation of beauty and an overdue reminder that while nature can do very nicely without humans, humans would struggle to survive without nature.
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