5 ways gardening is good for you
Green fingers have long known that gardening is good for you, both physically and mentally. And research has backed up their claims that gardening is healing. Here are five scientific-based reasons why everyone should embrace nurturing seedlings and pulling out weeds.
1. It alleviates stress
A 2011 study in the Netherlands found that gardening could alleviate stress and promote relaxation better than other leisure activities. In the study, two groups of people were instructed to complete a stressful task and then to either read indoors or garden for 30 minutes. Those in the gardening group reported being in a better mood, as well as having lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, compared to the reading group.
2. It’s good for your mental health
In a Norwegian study, people who had been diagnosed with depression spent six hours a week tending to a garden. After three months, participants showed a measurable improvement in their depressive symptoms, which even lasted months after the gardening program ended.
3. It gets your blood moving
Unless you’re hauling wheelbarrows of dirt over your acreage gardening doesn’t do much for your cardiovascular fitness, but all the other tasks – digging, planting and weeding – are all forms of low-impact exercise that get your blood moving. Plus, as it’s not exercise for the sake of exercise, you’re more likely to stick to it and reap the long-term benefits.
4. It helps your brain health
Two separate studies, which followed people aged 60 and over for 16 years, indicated that those who gardened regularly had, respectively, a 36 per cent and 47 per cent lower risk of dementia than those who did not garden. While these findings aren’t definitive proof, there is increasing evidence to suggest that the physical and mental benefits of gardening do have a positive influence on the mind.
5. It boosts your happiness
A survey of 1,500 adults in the UK found that 80 per cent of gardeners feel satisfied with their lives compared with 67 per cent of non-gardeners. “Part of it comes from nurturing something but also a natural optimism that no matter how bad the weather, there’s always next year. It’s also about passing the seed of knowledge and the pleasure that gives,” said Gardeners’ Word editor, Lucy Hall.