Working in your garden can be a therapeutic and enjoyable activity
However, even if gardening is an enjoyable hobby for you, sometimes the maintenance that a garden requires can be a great responsibility
There may be times that your garden feels like another troublesome chore to add to your already busy schedule.
If you’re trying to convince yourself to get out there and spend time in your garden, there are numerous benefits. Here are a few reasons why it’s a good idea to schedule yourself some longer dedicated time with your garden so that you can get the most of it:
Time Spent Gardening Counts As Exercise
Gardening helps to promote physical fitness as you do the hard work. You can burn around 300 calories an hour while you’re gardening, which is reason enough for many to spend some extra time doing it.
This includes a workout for almost all of your muscle groups, particularly the legs, arms, glutes, stomach, neck and back.
Gardening is a great way to exercise without exercising…
The best gardening chores to reap the rewards of exercise include weeding, pruning, mowing (particularly with a push or reel mower) and carrying water. Don’t forget, though, that there are many benefits to simply walking throughout the garden.
Related: Check out the latest GTech Lawn Mower review
Additionally, the physical exertion of gardening can assist in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. For those who spend time gardening regularly, it has also contributed to a decreased risk of diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis.
Improve Your Psychological Well-being and Mental Health
Gardening offers a hands-on creative outlet that can offer a sense of accomplishment as the plants grow and develop. For many, it can also be a highly meditative activity.
At the same time, gardening stimulates each of the senses, with vibrant colours and sights, textures, scents and sounds, which can play a part in reducing both daily and acute stress. In other words, working in the garden allows you to exercise while you are also taking a break and decompressing from other stressors in your life.
Improve your mental health just by being in nature
Gardening, furthermore, gives you the opportunity and incentive to spend time outside, which helps you to personally root yourself in nature and stay in the moment.
Related: Check out my expert guide to luscious lawn care
You’ll Be Less Likely to Cut Corners
The more you put off your gardening duties, the more there will be to do. Of course, most gardens require constant maintenance, which means frequent chores and small emergencies that pop up, including weather-related events, bug infestations and rodent problems. If you neglect these chores, they will pile up on you and become more difficult to handle.
Don’t leave the leaves to pile up…
There are plenty of gardening chores you can continue to work on during lockdown, too. In fact, it’s probably the perfect time to get more done!
Tackling your gardening chores more frequently will make them less overwhelming when it comes time to do them. Additionally, it can help you to prioritize chores and how long they take so that you can plan ahead for the time that you want to spend in your garden.
Connect with Your Loved Ones Through Gardening
Gardening is a wholesome activity that you can enjoy with your family and loved ones in the outdoors. It offers many teaching and learning opportunities for young ones and doesn’t require a lot of physical finesse, so even younger children can get involved.
Gardening also has its rewards that everyone will love. You get to see your flowers grow and bloom. Children might enjoy picking flowers for indoor vases and vegetable gardens can help to feed the whole family. Harvesting fresh vegetables is a great activity to help get children involved with meals.
Additionally, a healthy vegetable garden can help to promote healthy eating and cooking skills from a young age.
Related: Have a read through the best cordless hedge trimmers you can buy in the UK right now.
Be Proactive Against Infestations and Gardening Problems
Infestations are one of the most frustrating things about gardening. The longer you let an infestation go on, the harder it will become to remove it and the less of your garden that you’ll be able to salvage.
Infestations most often come from insects and bug pests or from rodents and vermin. Rodent problems will be more obvious. You may notice burrows and holes in the lawn, as well as large bites from your vegetables.
Insect infestations, on the other hand, are easier to miss yet no less destructive to your garden. It’s easy to overlook insects until it’s too late, and they can do a quick job of decimating your crops in a short amount of time.
There are many natural insecticides to try out on your plants, or you can pick up something more potent but not as good for the environment, from your local gardening centre.
For the most part, these problems and infestations are difficult to see from afar. Spending time out in your garden to examine the state of your plants can help you to nip these problems in the bud (pun intended…). This also gives you time to find creative and healthy solutions to keep the rodents and insects at bay.
A Well-Maintained Garden Makes You Feel Good
We all enjoy what a beautiful and healthy garden looks like, whether it’s a flower garden, vegetable patch or a landscaping-focused space. You’ll probably enjoy it even more so when it’s your own garden, especially if you add some home-made quirky garden ornaments to it.
There’s a sense of pride that goes along with a well-maintained garden. At the same time, gardens offer you and your loved ones a restful space where you can spend your free time during the warmer months.
Ultimately, scheduling time in your garden will not only give you the time to make it beautiful and productive, but it can also improve your mental and physical health.
If you’re looking for ways to quickly improve the look of your garden, while also being environmentally conscientious, check out the latest cordless electric machines. Ones such as the Greenworks 40v lawn mower and the GTech grass trimmer are excellent examples.
