Why I Love Gardening and You Should Too
Gardening is one of the most rewarding (and healthy!) hobbies you can have. It spans three seasons and is a great reason to escape from the rest of the world. I love being in my garden and experiencing the beauty of this relaxing retreat that touches each of the five senses.
Don’t be nervous about starting a garden of your own. Start small with a houseplant and gradually build up to a full garden or just jump in head first and plant, plant, plant. Some plants will thrive others will not. But don’t let that deter you from this enjoyable activity.
Last week we talked about taking time to relax and enjoy your gardens. Today I want to share with you why I love gardening and 4 good reasons why you should too. I’ll also share some inspiring gardening quotes with pictures from my own garden.
As I’m writing this post I’ve realized just how fast the summer has gone by. I remember when I wrote the first post in this gardening series and now we are down to the second from last post. Although I also know it’s not goodbye just yet because there is fall gardening to be done!
But for now, let’s review the reasons why I love gardening (and why you should too).
01. Improves Mood
Gardening makes me happy and the activity gives me a feeling of peacefulness and contentment. It refocuses my mind from any negative thoughts to the gardening task at hand. As strange as it might sound, gardening helps me concentrate on what’s right in front of me. It helps me “be in the moment” (can’t be online or on my phone if I’m gardening!). It’s down time that allows me to focus and ponder a difficult task, life problem or really anything that is weighing on me.
Tending to your garden(s) has also been proven to help with anxiety and depression. It relaxes your mind, body and spirit. Bottom line: working in the garden improves your mental health.
Let’s talk for a minute too about how exposure to sunlight and fresh air helps the body to naturally produce vitamin D. We need vitamin D for a healthy immune system (and fresh air helps our lungs). Although, as an avid gardener I do wear a large brimmed sun hat; don’t want to be getting sunburned while doing something that I love.
02. Improves Physical Health
We’ve all heard how regular exercise helps to reduce anxiety, depression, and can even help with dementia. Since my mother was affected with dementia, this one benefit is huge to me. Gardening is true physical activity -think about all that digging and weeding. It burns calories and gets your heart rate going. For me, gardening is just another way I get to Create A Beautiful Life.
Did you know?
Pulling weeds, planting flowers and other garden activities help to burn 200-400 calories per hour.
The American Heart Association fully supports gardening as an activity for battling high blood pressure. That means gardening is heart healthy (you’re welcome). {wink}
03. Gives Back to Nature
When I garden I have such a sense of achievement. I had a plan, I worked that plan and it’s going to turn out great. In the beginning of my gardening journey, I intentionally researched and planted a butterfly garden -which has been successful. I’ve even seen hummingbirds and bees visit the same plants and flowers to drink the nectar.
Planting a garden can be very beneficial to wildlife too. I’ve already posted about the benefits of planting fruit bearing trees and tomato container gardening for beginners. Both of these help feed the wildlife in our area and passing through our area. I’ve seen on the ground the apples that have been taken off the tree and partially eaten; and when we find a tomato that is starting to go bad we’ll put it out in the yard for wildlife (we do this because our vines produced so many tomatoes that we had a lot of them).
We are all more environmentally aware and desire to “giving back” to nature. By planting wildlife-friendly trees, shrubs, vegetables and flowers we are contributing to a better ecosystem and are helping to maintain a good environmental balance.
04. It’s Rewarding
Gardening is challenging but rewarding; it teaches me how to experiment and appreciate growth; most of all, it’s beautiful. It makes me so proud to look over my gardens and see how well they have flourished. I feel confident enough to start making some changes to my current gardens. It about time for a refresh and it’s been on my “wants” list for a while now.
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Now that you know all the benefits I see in gardening, you really shouldn’t be afraid to start a garden of your own. If you don’t have the yard space, a variety of houseplants can make any indoor space just as beautiful. But, if do you have the yard space I’d suggest starting small and keeping it simple, like the beginner garden for full sun over at Better Homes and Gardens (shown above).
Now that we have established why gardening is a great activity to get into, don’t forget to come back next week for the final post in this gardening series. I’ll be sharing with you my own gardening notebook and offering tips on How to Setup a Garden Journal and Planner.
If you are inspired to start a garden or just get outside more, take a photo and don’t forget to share by tagging me on Instagram and using #btdinspired, I’d love to see your work (and I just might repost your photo)!
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