What Is the Importance of Gardening? Why Gardening Is Good For Your Health

According to recent statistics, UK households spend approximately £7.5 billion on gardening items each year. Gardening is a widespread phenomenon throughout the UK, and it isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

And who can blame these people for partaking so intensely in such a hobby? There are numerous health benefits to getting down and dirty in a patch of garden and planting flowers, vegetables, and more.

If you're wondering what these benefits are, you've come to the right place. Here, we're going to talk about the importance of gardening for your overall wellness and that of your home. Read on to learn more about this wonderful hobby and find out why you should get started gardening if you haven't already!

Spend Time Outdoors

Gardening is beneficial first and foremost because it gives you an excuse to spend time outdoors regularly. There are many health benefits to spending time outside. First off, being in the sun is essential to getting the vitamins you need to have a healthy life. Specifically, you'll get more vitamin D, which decreases the risk of depression and related mental illness.

You'll also develop a healthier immune system when you spend time outdoors. Studies show that those who spend more time outdoors increase their red blood cell number by 40%. Since these cells are responsible for fighting off illness, it stands to reason that you're less likely to become ill when you go outside regularly.

Finally, spending time outside is a natural way to relieve the aches and pains that may come with your everyday life. It's proven to reduce muscle inflammation, remedying a lot of the pain that comes with age and activity.

Reduces Stress and Anxiety

Since spending time in the sun reduces depression, it shouldn't come as a surprise that it also reduces anxiety levels. But gardening, specifically, has been proven to reduce people's overall stress levels. Studies show that the activities associated with gardening reduce stress levels and boost the overall mood of people who partake in said activities.

Gardening is an activity-filled with repetition. You dig holes, insert seeds, pack dirt, water them, insert posts, and measure growth. Once you finish all of these steps, you repeat them with the next flower or vegetable. Repeated activity reduces stress because you know what happens next, and the sequence of movements calms you down, making gardening perfect for reducing stress levels.

Boosts Self-Esteem

Gardening is also an activity in which someone has a quantifiable way to measure their accomplishments. When flowers and vegetables grow and flourish, that's a surefire sign that the person growing them has accomplished something great. This is a huge boost to the self-esteem because people feel accomplished when they have evidence that they made something happen.

You can also select exactly what goes into our garden, making it a creative process. Creativity, in general, helps to boost self-esteem because you can make decisions as to the aesthetics of your creation. You can see the image that was in your mind come to fruition in the real world, which makes you know that you made something happen in the real world. You're sure to feel accomplished when you successfully have your flowers grow in varying combinations of patterns and colours that look great to you.

Grow Healthy Food

When you garden regularly, you can also grow healthy food. Vegetables like carrots, radishes, tomatoes, zucchini, squash- you name it. All of these vegetables can be grown in your garden and used in cooking. Try out some new and exciting recipes with the food you grow- you won't regret it.

You can also grow fruit like strawberries, raspberries, and grapes in your garden. These make for the perfect snack at any time of the day because they're juicy, delicious, and healthy.

Growing your own food also ensures that you know exactly what was used in the growing process. You won't need to fear the pesticides and herbicides that the food retail grocery stores carry was grown with. This will give you greater peace of mind since you'll be aware of precisely what's going into your body.

Your financial health will also flourish when you grow your own produce. If you go to Tesco or Waitrose, you'll be paying between 2 to 5 quid for a grocery item. This adds up fast, and you could be spending that money on other things or saving it for a rainy day. Growing your own fruits and vegetables allows you to have the foods you love to eat but at a much more reasonable price.

Fun for the Whole Family

Gardening is also beneficial to your social health because it's fun for the whole family. While it certainly can be a solo activity, you can have fun in the mud with your spouse and children, too. Working in a garden is the perfect bonding exercise because it requires communication (which plant should go where? Will this look good?), but it also allows children to be self-sufficient in other ways. Performing tasks on their own- especially ones that boost self-esteem- is excellent for child development.

If you don't have a family, that's also alright! Invite some friends over and make a day of working in the garden. You're sure to have a fantastic time growing your friendships as well as the plants.

Act on the Importance of Gardening

While there are a lot of great reasons to get into gardening, the bottom line is simply that it's excellent for your mental, physical, and social health.

Now that you know the importance of gardening in our lives, it's time to get the appropriate tools to ensure that your flowers and vegetables remain as healthy as you will be after growing them. Click here to learn more about buying an irrigation system for your garden. When you use one of these, you'll be sure that your garden is getting enough water every day, even when you're out and about doing other things.

Have fun growing!