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Importance of Gardening: Why Planting is Important

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You know, there is a difference in taste when you compare a garden-grown tomato to a store-bought tomato. There is an element of freshness that brings with it added flavours. This is because the vegetables that you find in the grocery store is often grown hundreds of miles away, which means it can take quite a bit of time for the harvest to reach your table. In the process of reaching you, these vegetables often lose freshness. The quality of the produce is hampered. This is why, the freshness of the produce remains one of main reasons why planting is important. 

 


Gardening enables you to step outside or attend to nature. It is a relaxing activity that usually takes time to produce results. Hence, you have to have patience when it comes to gardening. 

 


There are many ways in which gardening or planting helps your general health. In fact, there are some noteworthy health benefits of gardening which is why planting is considered important. 

 


Hence before anything else, let’s have a look at what these health benefits are. If you don’t already have a garden, then these health benefits may convince you to actually dig the dirt and start planting. 

 

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Health Benefits of Gardening

Starting a garden is a great idea. It is considered one of the healthiest hobbies you can develop. There are a host of reasons why gardening is considered healthy. Keep reading this word to word, as we list out the various health benefits of starting a garden. 

 


1. Helps You Manage Ecoanxiety


For many people, global warming is becoming a real issue. We are finding ourselves more stressed and guilty over the fact that global temperatures are rising due to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

 


We often experience ecoanxiety, with the guilt of feeling powerless under the overarching environmental problems the world faces. When you are faced with such guilt, gardening can be a great way to combat the negative health effects of ecoanixety, for it allows you to play your part in mitigating climate change. 

 


Not only would you be able to cut carbon on your own, but you would also be cutting down on environmental anxiety. That being the case, if you really want to make a difference, you have to be mindful not to use gas-powered tools and monitor your water consumption. 

 


Using compost as a means to reduce waste and decrease methane production, you should also look to plant as many trees as you can, for trees help absorb carbon dioxide from the environment. 

 


All in all, if you find yourself panicking or thinking to yourself that you aren’t doing enough to help the environment, do your part and start a garden of your own. You will find the journey delightfully enjoyable and will cherish the fruits of your labour. 

 


2. Gardening Can Empower You

There is nothing more empowering than growing your own food. Now, we know it isn’t practical for everyone to grow everything that they need, however every little that you do grow will go to empower you and make you feel as if you are more in control of your life. 

 


It is an element of ensuring that your needs are met and knowing that you yourself is responsible for having your needs met and nobody else. Not just that, but gardens help you reclaim cultural identity.

 


If you find that there is injustice in the access to healthy food, starting a vegetable garden could help you tackle that at the comfort of your home. You would be creating an outdoor, living, learning and healing environment for yourself and for other members of the community. 

 


You could find yourself ploughing neglected land and cultivating crops in the barren food deserts and expanding to areas away from your home. This will slowly work to build a sense of self-determination, thereby empowering you as a person. 

 

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3. Community Gardens Builds Connections

School gardens, family gardens and community gardens can be a great way to connect with the people that you love. Small local gardens have so much to go with togetherness.

 


There is a true sense of joy when people get together to plant the seedlings and take care of the garden. People who take part in community gardens usually have a greater sense of personal well-being. 

 


Working together in a garden, you have the opportunity to bring various people into the mix. You would find people of different ages, abilities and backgrounds all working together for the common good. It is a great way to get to know your neighbours and can be a real bonding experience for the whole community. 

 


4. Helps Recover from Addiction

Horticulture therapy has been around for many years; and working with plants have been part of many addiction recovery programmes for a while now. 

 


Planting and gardening provoke positive feelings in people who are recovering from alcohol addiction and can be a very effective rehabilitation tool. 

 


Gardening enables a model of natural recovery where you learn to take care of plants, which in essence helps you take care of yourself. Gardening has been proven in studies to be an effective tool in combating addiction and have been reviewed as a satisfying experience for those struggling with addiction. 

 

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5. Helps Calm Stress

If you have experienced something particularly stressful, simply working in the garden can be a great way to relieve yourself of stress. 

 


Gardening actually helps you recover from stress better than other activities such as reading. You would find that your cortisol levels have improved. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone. 

 


You would find yourself in a better mood with a positive outlook on life. There is something about taking care of others that helps you take better care of yourself. This is the mechanism through which gardening leads to stress release. 

 


Hence if you find yourself in a stressful situation during the day, wander in the garden and water the plants. This will help you calm yourself and relieve yourself of stress, which is always good. 

 


6. Boosts Your Mood

Gardening helps you to boost your mood and help elevate the sense of feeling good about yourself. Your self-esteem is improved and you would find that levels of anxiety and depression drop in people who garden as a hobby. 

 


People with depression have much to gain from gardening. Depressive symptoms are sure to improve and studies have proven this as such. In these studies, it was noted that the improvements in the quality of life usually wasn’t a one-off thing, but was something that lasted for many months after the gardening intervention. 

 


You may have noticed, that if you find yourself in a foul mood, simply walking in the garden helps brighten your day. This is because the natural environment of plants and birds chirping helps calm you and helps make you happy. It leaves you with a sense of togetherness with nature, something that is considered good for your mood. 

 

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7. Helps With Your Memory

It has been known for quite some time now that exercise helps improve cognitive function in your brain. Though gardening incorporates a small amount of exercise in comparison to running, for instance, it is still a good amount of exercise which helps spur growth in your brain’s memory-related nerves. 

 


People who are being treated with dementia have much to gain from gardening. A study led in Korea noted increased amounts of brain nerve growth associated with memory in those who took part in vegetable gardening. 

 


As mentioned prior, horticulture therapy has been identified as a great tool in improving mental health. If you find yourself being forgetful, you may have much to gain from partaking in gardening. Just start a small vegetable patch and enjoy the process. It could lead to better results. 

 


8. Build Strength, Promotes Sleep and Helps Maintain Weight

Gardening is a form of exercise. Though the level of physical exertion is mild, activities like raking and cutting grass do amount to a good amount of exercise. If you find yourself shovelling and digging, this would mean even more exercise. 

 


Working in the garden promotes the functioning of major muscle groups in the body. You may have noticed that you feel sore after a day of yardwork. This is because gardening does amount to a good amount of exercise and physical exertion. 

 


Physical exertion through gardening can help offset age-related weight gain and childhood obesity. Further to this, people who garden are more likely to get a good night’s rest and sleep better at night. A small amount of exercise helps you get better sleep and gardening allows you to get just that. 

 


9. Helps You Fight Disease

Vitamin D is an important part of your immune health. Vitamin D is usually absorbed in your body through the skin. It is estimated that a half-hour in the sun can produce between 8,000 and 50,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D in your body. 

 


Vitamin D is an integral component of many of your body’s functions. It helps strengthen your bones and also works to boost your immune system. 

 


Studies have proven that a good amount of vitamin D can help lower the risk of many diseases including breast cancer, colorectal cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer and multiple sclerosis. 

 


Low levels of vitamin D can lead to a greater risk of developing a host of diseases such as type II diabetes, dementia, metabolic syndrome and psoriasis flares. 

 


Though overexposure to the sun can lead to skin cancer, you can always use a good sunscreen to protect yourself. The science is clear, a little time spent in the sun gardening helps you go a very long way by aiding your body.

 

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Gardening and the Home Environment

There is a reason why gardening is important. Homes that have a garden produce a better home environment. Home gardens help create a beautiful environment of plants and trees. It becomes a haven in which you would find the ability to relax. 

 


Evening walking through the garden has been shown to produce some amazing calming effects on the self. A home garden can improve the quality of life and can increase the sense of wellbeing for those that dwell within the home. 

 


Further to this, if you make a practice out of gardening at home, you create a home environment in which you are growing the food that you would need. It doesn’t matter if you can’t simply live off your garden. Every little that you grow will lead to the table, which in essence will delight you with a feeling of empowerment and joy. 

 


You don’t always need outdoor space to garden. You can garden indoors on a balcony. Even if you are living in an apartment, you could find the space to grow a tomato plant. Even something as small as growing a tomato plant can have some tremendous effects on your health and wellbeing. You could grow a small herb garden in the kitchen. 

 


There are many types of plants that you can grow. Based on the availability of space, you can grow various plants. Regardless of whether it is a small herb garden in the kitchen or a vegetable patch in the garden, planting something will reward you in more ways than one and will improve your home environment. 

 

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Do Home Gardens Help the Environment?

Gardening is a great way of improving the environment we live in. You can add flowers, fruits, vegetables and herbs to your environment, turning your backyard into a luscious forest. 

 


A home garden helps improve the quality of soil and the quality of air that we breathe. It works to beautify a space and instead of simply living off the natural world, you are adding and tending to the green. 

 


Gardening helps replenish and protect the soil. If you have a garden, it is less likely the soil will get washed away by heavy rain. The root systems prevent the topsoil from moving during heavy rain and flood. The more root systems you have in your garden, the more soil you would be able to conserve. 

 


Plant roots add moisture and nutrients to the soil. The plants that die and decompose turn into nutrients which enables the growth of subsequent plants. 

 


Gardening also protects the local wildlife and pollinators. Birds, bees, squirrels and spiders alike would all be appreciative of your gardening efforts. In a world where natural habitats are being bulldozed, it is important to think about the wildlife and do what we can to protect the local environment. 

 


Further to this, when you garden, you would find yourself being more resourceful. Things that you would normally throw in the garbage would be turned into mulch and recycled as compost. This has a tremendous environmental impact by reducing the amount of waste your home produces. 

 


Lastly, gardening helps mitigate global warming. If you find yourself worried about climate change and feel that you are not doing your part to help the world, start a vegetable patch. Everything that you grow, regardless of how little it may be, will help prevent global warming. 

 


Planting trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables can all be effective means of mitigating global warming. Though the amount of carbon dioxide taken in by these small gardens may be small, collectively, they can have a huge impact on the global levels of greenhouse gases. 

 

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Does Gardening Reduce Carbon Footprint?

Growing a garden is great for the environment and works to reduce the carbon footprint of your food. When you grow your vegetables, you decrease the number of miles the food has to take to reach your kitchen table. Further to this, if you plant trees, it helps reduce the amount of atmospheric carbon by storing the carbon in the soil. 

 


If you are worried about your carbon footprint, you should do what you can and start planting and growing as much as possible. You can start with a home garden and expand to a community garden. The more you grow, the more you would be able to sustain your living relying on the food that you grow. 

 


Locally grown fruits and vegetables have a small carbon footprint, which is why they are considered environmentally healthier. You have the option to garden and grow your own vegetables, the question is, will you take initiative and start?

 

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Why Planting is Important?

Planting anything, be it a tree, a vegetable patch or a flower garden adds more helpful green into the environment. Not only does it help you better your health and wellbeing, but you are doing your part to help the environment. Planting a garden brings with it many health benefits and should be something we teach our kids. 

 


Community gardens can be a great way to connect with the locality and do something together. Working together to attain the common good will bring a sense of togetherness and community, which will be nurtured through the food that you grow. 

 


Regardless of what you choose to plant, gardening can be a great way to both help yourself and the environment. We aimed to provide you with sufficient reasoning as to why you should start gardening. 

 


Gardening is important and planting trees are important. It helps us protect the environment for future generations and instils in us the means to feed ourselves. 

 


Hence we hope that you found this article useful and that reading this word to word has helped you on your gardening journey. If you haven’t started gardening yet, you should take the initiative today and get started. There is no better feeling than watching your vegetables grow, picking the harvest and sharing a fresh meal with your loved ones. 

 


Happy Gardening!

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