Gardening is perhaps one of the oldest hobbies out there, stemming from the age-old activity of farming and cultivating plants for food and medicine. Nowadays, gardening is seen more as an aesthetic tool to beautify one’s front or backyard and make one’s home look and feel cozier. However, did you know that gardening can improve your mental and physical health? Let’s take a look at how gardening can keep you healthy.
Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Being one with nature, working with plants, soil, sun, and fresh air, the thought of it alone could help calm one’s nerves. A study has shown that even just 30 minutes of gardening can reduce stress and positively affect one’s mood by decreasing cortisol (stress hormone) levels. So if you’re tired from work, school, or just fed up with life’s daily stressors, tend to your garden. Gardening can take your mind off of things that are bothering you as you focus on keeping your vegetable garden or flowerbed healthy. Additionally, gardening can also greatly benefit seniors by lowering the risk of dementia and other memory-related illnesses.
Improve Immune System
Being in contact with soil and fresh air can significantly benefit your immune system by exposing you to germs and bacteria for your body to fight off. There have been studies showing that kids and people who are exposed less to the outdoors are more likely to get sick. Even if you opt to wear gardening gloves and avoid having your bare hands touch the soil, simply being outdoors and near your plants and soil would provide enough exposure to germs and bacteria that could help build your immunity. Gardening’s an activity where your whole family could bond and build immunity together.
Physical Workout
Gardening takes some effort, just enough for you to sweat, stretch out, and breathe heavily but not as taxing as going to the gym. And the good thing about gardening is that you’d be so focused at your tasks such as cultivating the soil, removing weeds, or watering, that you’d be too preoccupied to notice that you’re sweating and working out. Studies have shown that three hours’ worth of gardening is equal to an hour of heavy exercise at the gym.
Bonding
Continuing from the previous point, gardening is something that people of all ages can enjoy. As such, you can make gardening a good bonding activity between young and old family members, from grandparents to grandkids, or parents and their children. These social bonding moments help develop one’s mental health and mood.
Healthy Food
Planting herbs and vegetables in your garden allows you to have your supply of fresh food and ingredients. People are also more likely to eat the fruits and vegetables that they grew. Not only that, but planting a few fruits and vegetables and seeing them grow and be ready for harvest would give one pride and motivation to keep gardening.
Conclusion
Without a doubt keeping your garden healthy can keep you healthy. However, if you have trouble deciding on how to plot their garden’s design and landscape, or wish to have your Bellevue home’s front or backyard professionally designed, you can always hire a residential landscape architect to help you out. After which, you’d have a beautiful and adeptly-landscaped garden to grow, maintain, and benefit from.
