Reduces Stress
If you’ve ever been very stressed, you might have had people tell you you need to get out in nature for a bit. Well, those people were right. Being out in nature reduces stress, and so does the act of digging in the soil and planting new foods and flowers.
Promotes Heart Health
If you’re looking for a way to improve your heart health, gardening is the way to go, especially if you’re elderly. Regular gardening is good, gentle exercise and it helps lower your risk of heart disease. You’ll want a good healthy diet as well, mind.
Growing Chemical-Free Food
And speaking of a good healthy diet… gardening gives you the chance to enjoy chemical-free fruit and vegetables that you grew yourself. No, you won’t be able to grow enough to ensure you can cut out supermarket food, but it’s still good!
Increases Property Value
If you’re thinking you might sell your house in the future, making a great garden is the way to go. People will be so impressed with a good, well-kept garden that it might even boost your house prices.
Building Self Esteem
You might not connect gardening with self esteem, but many people report that creating a garden gives them a sense of accomplishment that builds confidence. There’s nothing like the feeling you get when a flower pokes its head out of the soil for the first time.
Encourages Outdoor Play
Are you concerned about your kids staying on their phones or games consoles all day? Gardening is a great way to get them out of the house and it’s an activity that requires no screen time whatsoever. They might complain at first but they’ll grow to love it.
Reduces Your Carbon Footprint
Growing your own food means that you’re not buying it from the supermarket, which means you aren’t driving to the supermarket and picking up food that’s likewise been driven to its spot. That means you’ve reduced your carbon footprint and helped the environment.
Reduces Waste of Food Scraps
Sometimes you just can’t eat all your food, or you purchase more than you can handle. Well, with gardening, you can use your waste food to make compost, thus ensuring it doesn’t go to waste. No more buying compost from the store, either!
Builds Community
If you have a community garden, then you’ve got a built-in community. Get talking to the other people who frequent it and soon you’ll have gained more friends and neighborhoods. In a time when many people report feeling lonely, the importance of this cannot be overstated.
Encourages Creativity
Do you feel like you’re a creative person, but you never get a chance to express yourself? Gardening could be just the thing you’re looking for. You get to choose which plants go where and design your garden according to your tastes.
Promotes Biodiversity
Gardens support a variety of organisms and healthy ecosystems, including those that serve our insect friends. Keeping a good garden means you’re contributing to environmentally friendly practices, as long as you don’t use too many pesticides.
Saves Money
If you’re growing things like tomatoes and potatoes in your garden, then you’re not getting them from the store. So you’re saving money, both on gas and on buying the items themselves! Many people love growing their own food for that exact reason.
Teaching Opportunity
Some parents despair of their child’s lack of food knowledge. In the eyes of some kids, food comes from the supermarket and that’s it. But when you have a garden to grow food, you can teach your kids exactly where food comes from and the biological processes of growing it.
Improves Strength and Co-Ordination
Gardening every day has a huge positive impact on your body. Plenty of gardeners report that their strength and co-ordination has been improved by going out and planting things. It’s better (and cheaper) than going to the gym.
Improves Focus
You may often be bombarded with mobile phone game ads claiming a game improves focus. But why play a poorly made video game when you can garden instead? Planting, digging and cutting are all things that help to improve your focus.
Encourages Better Sleep
If you’ve been having trouble sleeping recently, gardening may be the boost you’ve been looking for. Physical activity and fresh air improve sleep quality. So get up early and get out in the garden!
Supports Pollinators
Pollinators like bees are vital to the ecosystem, but their population is declining thanks to human acts. Everyone needs to do their part to help bring the bees back. If you’re gardening and planting bee-friendly plants like lavender, you’re already doing a good job.
Provides Fresh Herbs and Spices
Herbs and spices at the grocery store are often very expensive, so you might not have even thought about buying them and putting them in your food. If you’re growing your own herbs and spices, you can get more adventurous with what you’re cooking.
Makes Your House Look Prettier
Much is said about “curb appeal” and making a house look nice from the outside. Creating a new garden is a chance to make your house the dream home you’ve always wanted it to be. You may even get people stopping outside your home to admire the flowers.
Better Food
When you buy (say) tomatoes from a store, you don’t know exactly where it’s been or how it was processed before it made it to shelves. But with food grown in your garden, you know exactly what you used on it and where it’s been.
Boosts Your Immune System
In addition to all the other myriad ways gardening helps your health, some people think it may boost your immune system as well. The exercise combined with the sunlight, fresh air and healthy microbes in the soil all leads to a better immune system.
Encourages Healthier Eating
Maybe you have kids who are addicted to fast food and microwave pizzas. You should get them gardening, if so. When a person grows healthy food themselves, they’re more likely to eat it – this could be a great way for kids to finally get some all-important greens in their diet.
Improves Air Quality
Air quality is another thing everyone has to work together to achieve. Starting a garden, even a small one, is a big step in the right direction. Plants filter pollutants and release oxygen, leading to better air quality for all.
Creates Opportunities to Share
For some people, sharing is the best thing about having a garden. If they grow too many apples or tomatoes or whatever they’re growing, they simply hand them off to their friends and neighbors. Some people even put their spare produce in a box outside their house with a note saying they’re free for the taking.
Creates a Peaceful Sanctuary
Many people long for a room in their house that provides a peaceful sanctuary from the chaos of life. But what if that room was a garden? Many people report that they use their garden as a peaceful retreat and find their life much better for it.
Teaches Responsibility
Maybe your children have been begging for a pet, but you don’t trust them to take responsibility for it? Try assigning them a part of the garden instead. Plants are living things as well, and maybe if your kids can keep a plant alive, they can keep a small animal alive.
Increases Mindfulness
Mindfulness is much talked about in mental health circles these days. It’s the practice of keeping your mind focused on the here and now and letting emotions pass through you without judgement. Many people find that the slow, deliberate practice of gardening improves their mindfulness.
Chance of Finding Hidden Treasure
This obviously isn’t the main reason you should take up gardening, but it can be a big plus. Some people go out to garden, dig up their flowerbeds and find hidden treasure – something buried by a previous owner, maybe, or something from a bygone era that was lost a long time ago.
Improves Depression
Depression is a horrible thing to try and get through, but some have found that gardening helps them through it. The feeling of being responsible for something, combined with the mental health benefits of being out in the fresh air, can cause a dark cloud to lift a little bit.
Chance to Land a New Job
Many people start gardening and find they’re really good at it – good enough to take their skills and start applying for jobs, even. Others keep their regular jobs, but grow food and flowers as a side hustle. Don’t underestimate the power of gardening, it can wildly improve your life.
