The Many Benefits of Gardening (and How to Get Started)
There’s so much satisfaction in making your own food and learning how to grow fresh produce. Gardening is a practice of sustainability and self-sufficiency. If you’re motivated by a desire to make a positive impact on the plant, then it’s super easy to get started. Start small with seedlings, starter plants, or herbs in a container. Anything you can grow in the dirt you can cultivate in a pot, which is great if you live in an apartment.
You can add an outdoor bistro set to your balcony or terrace to watch your garden grow. If you live in a house, you can build up to a small plot of land in your yard. If you have a green thumb, you’ll be blooming all over your backyard in no time, relaxing in a rocking chair, and enjoying all your hard work. On the surface gardening allows you to learn autonomy and how to grow produce, and at the roots, you reap the many gardening health benefits.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Benefits of Gardening
Yes—it is light to moderate endurance exercise. Tasks like digging, watering, and lifting build biceps, strength, and stamina. It functions as aerobic exercise that can lower BMI and burn calories, often leading to better sleep at night due to physical exertion.
It lowers cortisol and boosts mood. Studies show gardening decreases depression, anxiety, and stress hormones more effectively than reading. It improves self-esteem, provides a sense of purpose, and inspires mindfulness by keeping you focused on the present moment.
Absolutely—use containers and pots. Anything you grow in the ground can be cultivated in a pot. Start small with herbs or seedlings on a balcony or terrace to enjoy the benefits of sustainability and fresh produce without a yard.
Yes, it teaches responsibility and reduces screen time. Giving children ownership of a plant or garden bed strengthens their sense of responsibility and engagement. It is a wholesome family activity that connects kids to nature and gets them off devices.
It can alleviate stiffness and improve motor skills. While you should be mindful of carpal tunnel, gardening generally strengthens hand muscles and improves fine motor skills, helping to alleviate stiffness associated with chronic joint pain.
Vitamin D absorption and immune support. Sunlight helps your skin absorb Vitamin D, which supports bone health and boosts the immune system. Adequate Vitamin D is linked to lower risks of multiple sclerosis and various cancers.
It forces you to be present. Gardening requires focus on the task at hand, whether planting or weeding. This immersion in the present moment improves mental clarity, reduces worry, and helps form healthy, stress-reducing habits.
Physical Benefits of Gardening
Getting out in the garden means maximum exposure to sunshine. Sunlight aids the skin in absorbing vitamin D. Vitamin D supports bone health and boosts your immune system. Adequate amounts of Vitamin D helps to lower the risk of developing multiple sclerosis and many types of cancers including breast, prostate, and colon cancer. The trickle effect of gardening lowering stress and anxiety is that it also lowers blood pressure and in turn, reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Gardening can contribute to conditions like carpal tunnel or tendonitis, but the flip side is that it can also strengthen the muscles in your hands and improve the fine motor skills in your fingers. In fact, gardening alleviates some of the stiffness caused by chronic joint pain.
With all the walking, watering, and digging, gardening qualifies as light to moderate endurance exercise. If you’ve ever lifted a bag of dirt or heavy water, then you know that gardening helps build biceps and overall strength and stamina. Gardening will make you break a sweat just like any other aerobic exercise with all the bending, twisting, and lifting. Lower your body mass index and calorie count every hour you do light yard or garden work. Tending to plants tires you out. Guaranteed you’ll fall into a deep sleep after a day of digging in the dirt.
Mental Health and Emotional Benefits of Gardening
Scientific studies show gardening decreases depression and anxiety levels. Another scientific study shows that gardening lowers the stress hormone, cortisol, more than quietly reading a book. Researchers have also found that gardening improves brain functions and memory. Gardening boosts your mood while increasing your self-esteem and sense of well-being. All the tender loving care you put into plants provides a sense of pride and purpose.
Gardening is a wholesome family fun activity and it helps form connections. Gardening is a great way to get children off of their devices and involved in something that strengthens their sense of responsibility. Give your child ownership over their own garden bed or potted plant and watch how engaged and invested they become in the growing process. Guaranteed their screen time will be down. School and community gardens are increasing in popularity and blooming all over. If you are an introvert, looking for new ways to interact and meet like-minded people, don’t be afraid to step out and find a local garden in your neighborhood. Not only do you learn new skills in gardening, but it also encourages ingenuity and creativity. Let your creative juices flow when you decide which colorful blooms you want to plant, the layouts of boxes, or designs for DIY painted pots.
Gardening inspires mindfulness and improves mental clarity. It’s easy to get lost in a gardening project and become laser-focused on your task. Gardening is the ultimate practice of being present. Instead of harping on past failed crops or rushing forward to future harvest, there’s no choice but to be fully immersed in the present moment and your planting projects. Before you know it a few mindful minutes will pass by as hours as you form healthy habits and nourish your garden. When your attention is fully absorbed in a positive project, you feel less worried and are able to weed out stress. Be sure to stop and smell the roses and relish the fruits of your labor. Add a bench near your garden beds to sit for a meditative moment. Immerse yourself in nature and the soothe yourself with the sounds of the great outdoors. And top it all off with some fine garden furniture from Patio Productions!
