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By Andrew Krosofsky
Dec. 15 2020, Updated 11:48 a.m. ET
Whether you’re walking in an arboretum during the Cherry Blossom Festival or tending your own lawn, it’s hard to deny that gardens, in general, have a certain universal appeal. There’s something about the presence of gardens in our lives that brightens our sometimes dismal, modern world. Much of this has to do with something intrinsic in human beings: an innate appreciation of the natural world. But why is gardening so important to our lives and culture, and how can it help the environment?
Gardening is good for a great many things. It can be good for your health, good for your soil, and good for the wildlife in your backyard. It’s a great way to relieve stress, to set goals for yourself, and to nurture something. On top of all that, growing your own produce is a great way to become more sustainable at home and to reduce your environmental impact.
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Gardening also happens to be a great hobby. It's something that you can do season after season, year after year, and into your twilight years. Even if you don’t have robust flower beds or a vast back garden, you can still find ways to garden indoors and on a smaller scale. This makes gardening a versatile hobby, as well as a healthy one.
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Why is gardening important for your health?
Gardening comes with a myriad of well-documented health benefits. The most obvious of these has to do with the fact that quite a bit of gardening is done outdoors. Exposure to sunlight increases your vitamin D, which is good for bones, teeth, and muscles. And speaking of muscles, gardening is a great form of low-impact exercise — high impact if you’re hefting huge pots or wheelbarrows of soil around.
In terms of mental health, gardening has also been shown to decrease the risk of dementia and as a type of therapy for those already suffering from it, according to a study published by the journal Psychiatry Investig. This might have to do with the mental health benefits we experience just being in nature. Gardens, by virtue of the human-made nature of their construction, allow us a means to connect to nature in a sort of self-determined way.
Many studies have found that gardening can boost one’s mood. I obviously can’t speak for everyone, but gardening makes me feel great. Even after spending hours pulling weeds and planting new vegetables every spring, I feel like my demeanor is far brighter than it was when I first pulled on my gardening gloves that day.
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This isn’t just because you feel like you’ve accomplished something either — though that does help. As reported by Quartz, several studies have found that exposure to a specific bacteria commonly found in soil can increase levels of serotonin in the human brain. Serotonin is a chemical that increases feelings of well-being or happiness.
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Why is gardening important to the environment?
Gardens are important to the planet because, despite being human-made, they represent a natural environment. Plants and trees grow there, taking in carbon and releasing oxygen. The roots of these plants stabilize the soil and filter water. Municipal gardens and national parks become safe havens for all manner of wild creatures that might have been otherwise displaced by the endless urban sprawl of the modern world.
Birds, bugs, and bees — especially honey bees — are essential to the lifecycle of the world at large. Bees are one of the most important pollinators in this group but they aren’t the only ones. Your backyard garden is bound to have its own native pollinators and your garden is a great way to coax them back into your life. They’ll help your flowers look nicer, keep your perennials coming back, and help your vegetable garden to flourish.
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Why is gardening important for your community?
If you live in an urban or suburban area but lack the space for a backyard garden, you may not be alone. Community gardens are a great way to build togetherness within a community. Working together to split responsibilities, upfront costs, and the fruits of your labor, can help you understand and appreciate your neighbors in ways you might not have thought possible.
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Why is gardening important to your daily life?
Your health, your frame of mind, your community, and the environment — if those are not enough reasons for why gardening is important, we have a few more to give you. Gardening can also be important for your wallet, nutrition, and environmental footprint.
By growing your own sustenance, your diet becomes more sustainable, since your food won't have to travel more than a few feet to get to your plate (as opposed to store-bought produce, which can sometimes be flown in from other countries). If your thumb is particularly green, you’ll probably save more money than you realize by harvesting your own fruits and veggies —and by growing your produce organically, it could be healthier than the conventional produce you may otherwise buy at the store.
Why is gardening important to your family?
On top of all that, gardening is a great hobby that you can share with your children. Teaching them to nurture a living thing and to be responsible for their own segment of the environment are great lessons to pass down. My own grandparents have imparted their gardening secrets through the generations and those lessons have taught me much about patience, preparedness, and the nature of nature in my own backyard. They are secrets I plan to teach my own children in due course.
Why does gardening seem to be so beneficial to health? It combines physical activity with social interaction and exposure to nature and sunlight. Sunlight lowers blood pressure as well as increasing vitamin D levels in the summer,42 and the fruit and vegetables that are produced have a positive impact on the diet.
Earth-friendly Gardening benefits the environment.
These practices are kind to the Earth as they: Minimize pollutants in air, water, and soil. Protect our irreplaceable and threatened biodiversity. Support pollinators and natural enemies.
It's been shown to lighten mood and lower levels of stress and anxiety. It's very gratifying to plant, tend, harvest and share your own food. Routines provide structure to our day and are linked to improved mental health. Gardening routines, like watering and weeding, can create a soothing rhythm to ease stress.
“If you garden, you're getting some low-intensity physical activity most days, and you tend to work routinely,” says Buettner. He says there is evidence that gardeners live longer and are less stressed. A variety of studies confirm this, pointing to both the physical and mental health benefits of gardening.
According to the CDC, gardening is the second favorite physical activity of older adults (behind walking), providing moderate physical activity which may help reduce stress, lower your blood pressure, and maintain a healthier weight — all factors that can reduce your risk of heart disease, among other benefits.
Trees, hedges, and other plants counter climate change by trapping carbon and emitting oxygen; and worldwide, forests may offset a quarter of man-made carbon dioxide. They also improve the environment by reducing noise, heat, glare, wind, water run-off, erosion and dust.
Oxygen: Through photosynthesis, plants use carbon dioxide, sunlight, and water to create energy and release oxygen. Recovery from natural disasters: Plants help protect soil from erosion and release nutrients to keep soils fertile.
Studies have found that simply having plants in view can reduce stress, fear, anger and sadness, and can also reduce blood pressure, pulse rate and muscle tension. And research has shown that even taking a walk in a natural environment can have a positive effect on anxiety and depression.
When done correctly, even the smallest backyard plot can produce copious amounts of fruits and vegetables and possibly even a significant saving to the grocery budget. However, it takes time and patience, and a small outlay of money to buy seeds, and tools, if you need them.
According to research, getting your hands in the soil and contact with a specific soil bacteria called Mycobacterium Vaccae triggers the release of serotonin in our brain. Serotonin is a natural anti-depressant and also strengthens the immune system. It is the Lack of serotonin in the brain causes depression.
Working together, tending gardens and growing food, in particular, yield remarkable benefits. These include improvements in self-esteem, teamwork, social interaction, planning, problem solving and coping skills, as well as a passion for gardening and community that may continue throughout life.
Gardening is widely regarded as a moderate to strenuous form of exercise. All that bending, lifting, digging and hauling burns calories and builds muscle. But it can also strain backs and leave even the fittest among us aching the next day.
Getting your hands dirty in the garden can increase your serotonin levels – contact with soil and a specific soil bacteria, Mycobacterium vaccae, triggers the release of serotonin in our brain according to research. Serotonin is a happy chemical, a natural anti-depressant and strengthens the immune system.
By tending to a garden with your child, you are not only helping them bring valuable science concepts to life but also teaching them responsibility, growing their confidence and giving them opportunities to practice patience and overcome setbacks.
“Growing your food, getting outside, breathing fresh air and being closer to nature all provide wonderful health benefits. But gardening also offers physical activities that can improve the big four – endurance, strength, balance and flexibility,” She said.
Intensive planting is like a blanket for the soil; it protects it. It helps the soil hold all of its nutrients and water. If you feel like you're always having to water your garden because your soil is drying out too fast, that could be because your plants have too much space between them.
Clearly, if you are growing your own fruits and vegetables, there are no carbon emissions. You grow, wash, and eat it, so carbon emissions are essentially zero. You're even sequestering carbon by growing food on your property.
The growth of new and varied plants improves both air and soil quality in and around gardening spaces. Additionally, community gardening projects are forms of sustainable agriculture, and promote healthy food production while avoiding the harmful effects of industrial agriculture.
Gardens that use organic methods and conserve water are much more environmentally friendly than traditional gardens. Additionally, creating a garden that attracts beneficial insects and animals can help to keep your garden healthy and balanced.
As trees grow, they help stop climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air, storing carbon in the trees and soil, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere.
Introduction: My name is Edwin Metz, I am a fair, energetic, helpful, brave, outstanding, nice, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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