Kate Garraway grows her own herbal remedies to help husband Derek Draper
Watch: Kate Garraway show her wellness garden to husband Derek Draper
Kate Garraway has made her own herbal teas to help husband Derek Draper, after taking on a challenge to grow her own medicinal plants.
The Good Morning Britain presenter - whose husband requires round-the-clock care as a result of his long battle with the coronavirus - featured in ITV's Love Your Garden: Grow Your Own Special, revealing how she had turned her back garden into a wellness space for her family.
Garraway, 54, explained: "The garden needs to be more than a space to go into. I really want to grow some plants to improve our health and wellbeing."
She added: "I love the idea that there's plants that look good, smell good and do good. I hope it works.
Read more: Kate Garraway reveals Derek Draper's secret trip to Mexico for COVID treatment
"If you look past the initial beauty of the plants, it can give you so much more. I haven’t quite proved you can grow yourself well but I think I’ve definitely learnt you can grow yourself happier."
After visiting Kew Gardens to learn about the medicinal benefits of plants, the TV presenter was inspired to grow three separate beds of herbal teas, aromatherapy plants, and those strong in antioxidants.
After growing four different varieties of mint and an abundance of lavender, she and 12-year-old son Billy were shown harvesting the fruits of her labour and making their own herbal teas and room spray to help boost wellness.
Draper, 54, was shown smiling as Garraway wheeled him out to see the results of her gardening.
She said: "This is going to be so much more than I thought it was going to be. I’ve taken the garden that’s a place of family fun and turned it into something that’s the way our family has to live now."
One of the aromatherapy plants Garraway planted was Cotton Lavender, to bring the smell of fresh laundry into her home.
The TV presenter recently shared an update on her husband’s health in ITV documentary Caring For Derek.
Revealing the day-to-day reality of being a carer, she showed her home piled with mountains of laundry from seven bed changes a day.
Garraway also revealed Draper last year travelled to Mexico to take part in a new medical trial.
Draper is bed-bound after contracting coronavirus in March 2020 and has been left with significant brain injuries.
He returned to the family home — where he lives with Garraway and daughter Darcey, 15, and Billy — in April 2021 and requires round-the-clock care.
Read more: Kate Garraway says she didn't receive an MBE for looking after Derek
Caring For Derek is the follow-up to Garraway's award-winning ITV documentary about Finding Derek charting his return home and the whole family's adjustment to his round-the-clock care.
Watch: Kate Garraway's has shared the reality of being a carer in Caring For Derek