Most people recognize that gardening is a relaxing way to spend time outside doing something productive. Throughout the pandemic, many people actually turned to gardening as a new hobby since everyone was spending more time at home. That alone should speak volumes about its stress-relieving properties.

But, there are more benefits to gardening than most people realize.

While growing your own flowers or produce can be a great feeling, there are so many more things to consider if you’re on the fence about starting a garden. Whether you’re looking for a new hobby or you’ve always wanted a beautiful blooming display to come home to, it’s important to know how gardening can improve your life.

With that in mind, let’s cover a few of the benefits you can take advantage of as you get your hands dirty.

It Can Benefit Your Health

One of the biggest reasons to start gardening is to improve your overall well-being. Both your physical and mental health can be positively impacted by having a garden. First, simply being outside can boost your mood, give you more energy, and reduce the effects of depression and anxiety if you struggle with those conditions.

Gardening can also boost your self-esteem. You don’t have to have a green thumb to get in the dirt, plant something from a seedling and tend to it until it grows. Watching your hard work produce something wonderful is a great way to feel a stronger sense of worth.

From a physical standpoint, gardening has many perks, including:

• It’s good for your heart
• It burns calories
• It improves hand strength
• You’ll get a boost of vitamin D

Gardening isn’t just good for your heart but your muscles as well. If you want to get more physical activity but can’t do strenuous workouts, spending time in your garden is a perfect alternative.

If you choose to grow an herb or vegetable garden, you’ll be able to experience even more benefits. Growing your own food is ideal for living a healthy lifestyle. It doesn’t get more organic than picking produce from your backyard. And, because you grew it, you’ll be more likely to use it in your meals each day.

It Can Build a Community Connection

The pandemic caused a variety of problems. One of the most overlooked ones, however, is how many people struggled with loneliness. One 2020 study found that 36% of respondents to a national survey suggested they felt lonely “frequently” or “almost all the time”.

Gardening might seem like a solo activity, but it doesn’t have to be.

Community gardens have become increasingly popular in recent years. Since 2012, they’ve increased by 44% across the country. If you want to start one, consider putting together a planning committee and going through the following steps:

1. Gather information on whether the community wants a garden
2. Analyze your data
3. Set community goals
4. Put together alternative ideas
5. Segment your plan into different phases

If you do get a community garden off the ground (or, rather, in the ground), it’s a wonderful opportunity to meet new, like-minded individuals. If you’ve been struggling with loneliness or you just want to meet new friends, you’re bound to meet people from all walks of life ready to start growing in their sections.

Community gardens have benefits of their own. They increase local access to fresh produce, improve mental health for everyone involved, and can educate the community on the benefits of healthy eating and sustainable living. Furthermore, research has shown that the presence of community gardens in certain areas can reduce the crime rate and boost the economy when local gardeners sell their crops to others.

Schools are also starting to take part in the community garden trend, so don’t be afraid to reach out to your local district about starting a garden on school grounds. Not only can it add natural beauty to the property, but it has multiple benefits for students. It teaches responsibility, science, sustainability, and so much more. Even if you can’t get a garden started on school property, you might be able to start up a program with area schools to give classes their own plots to work with.

It Can Give You a Purpose

When most people think of gardening, flowers or vegetables likely come to mind. But, there are so many different types of gardens, including:

• Pollinator attractors
• Habitat gardens
• Water conservation gardens
• Food production gardens

When you decide to focus your time and attention on a specific “style” of garden, you’ll create strong goals for yourself and can even discover a greater sense of purpose. All of the gardens listed above serve a specific need. There’s no question that the honeybee population is in danger, water conservation is crucial, and food production can help to combat waste and CO2 emissions.

Even if you’ve never gardened before but you’re passionate about planting with a purpose, there are steps you can take to get it right the first time. Some of your goals as you work on your plot should include:

• Researching how to effectively start a specific type of garden
• Building healthy soil
• Learning new skills
• Going 100% organic
• Taking care of your tools

When it comes to the health of your garden, you’ll want to make sure that you’re not just building healthy soil but being mindful of what’s already there. Maybe you live in an older house that already had a garden bed, but you haven’t done anything to it. If your home was built before 1990, make sure your garden soil doesn’t contain vermiculite. It’s a naturally occurring mineral that used to be mined from the same ore deposits as asbestos. If you come in contact with vermiculite, it could contribute to breathing problems and even put you at a greater risk of lung cancer.

If you’ve been thinking about starting a garden, there’s no wrong time to do it! Hopefully, understanding some of the ways gardening can improve your life will make the decision easier for you. Whether you start planting on your own or get involved in a community garden, you’ll start reaping the benefits of what you sow before you know it – in more ways than one!

About the author:

Frankie Wallace is a freelance writer from the Pacific Northwest. She writes about a variety of topics, and spends most of her free time in her garden. 

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Submitted Exclusively to CrystalWind.ca by Frankie Wallace © 2021 crystalwind.ca