A woman, left unable to leave her home due to long Covid, has rediscovered her passion for life by starting a houseplant business.
Ruth Bramley, who once aspired to be a nurse and was a champion canoeist, caught Covid just weeks after beginning sixth form. Now 20, she admits she “never really recovered.” She emphasizes the lasting impact of the pandemic on young people.
“I spent close to a year hardly leaving the house — wiped out with fatigue,” she told BBC Radio 4’s On Your Farm.
Ruth, from Llandysul, Ceredigion, described the serious effects of her condition. After her initial struggles, she was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, which causes pressure around the brain, and fibromyalgia, a chronic illness that leads to widespread pain.
Ruth’s parents had taken her to a local canoeing club, Llandysul Paddlers, to help her overcome a fear of water. She excelled in the sport, becoming a Welsh and British champion. By age 12, she was already competing at a high level.
“It was my whole life,” she recalled. “I trained for two-and-a-half hours a day, five days a week. Having to give it up was devastating; it left a massive hole.”
Even though her parents own a successful plant nursery, Ruth had always insisted she would never enter horticulture. However, during her lowest moments, she found solace in houseplants and began to cultivate her own.
“Having the plants did a lot for my mental health,” she said. “Being around them is so grounding. The textures and colors take you out of your head.”
A recent study by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and the University of Reading found that “attractive plants that are happy and healthy” improve well-being in homes and offices.
Ruth’s father, Richard, wanted to help his daughter and offered to build her a small houseplant shop at the nursery. They converted an old propagation room into the shop, using reclaimed wood from polytunnel benches.
A few years later, The Houseplant Place is thriving. Ruth believes the pandemic played a role in this success. “I think houseplants became fashionable during Covid, when people couldn’t get out and about,” she said. “People wanted nature, especially if they didn’t have a garden. With more free time, they looked for activities that would improve their mood.”
This observation is supported by the RHS, which reported a rise in houseplant sales since the pandemic began.
“Doing this has helped me a lot,” Ruth stated. “It’s been an interesting journey and definitely not where I saw my life going. But I’m glad to be here in this lovely place, surrounded by plants.”
Ruth has even tattooed plant designs on her arms, including a cheese plant leaf, a fern, wisteria, and a daffodil, covering scars from her painful past.
As of March 2023, an estimated 1.9 million people in the UK reported symptoms of long Covid, including 94,000 in Wales, with 57,000 experiencing symptoms for over a year.
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