Attention! Gardening will change your life and the world.

Believe it or not, gardening can provide much more than adding beauty to your yard. There are countless benefits for them, making it a must do in this day and age. In this blog, we will discuss the different ways gardening will change everything. If you don't believe it, read on and I think your mind will change.

Customers may wonder "Why should I start to garden or landscape?" The real question at hand should be, why shouldn't you garden?

Gardening is good for your mind and body:

Gardening is a great form of exercise. Besides obvious weight lose benefits gardening has been proven to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and decrease depression. (Eva Shaw, PhD, author of Shovel It: Nature’s Health Plan) In fact, studies show that merely looking at a garden or plants can generate changes in such things as blood pressure, heart activity, muscle tension, and brain electrical activity. Through colors and textures gardeners can invoke emotions of calm, tranquility, and happiness. Gardening is more than a feel good pastime; it has evolved into a form of therapy for our body and soul.

Maybe you’re someone who has always felt his or her thumb to be conspicuously not-green. But after tilling, planting, nurturing and harvesting plants, you might see a slightly different person in the mirror. A person who can grow things. A person a little more in tune with the earth. A gardener, whose thumb does seem to emit a shade of green after all!

It always feels good to accomplish new tasks, and if you can grow a garden, what can’t you do?

You’re burning calories and strengthening your heart when you’re out in the garden. You do know that, right?

According to WebMD, ‘Activities such as gardening, do-it-yourself projects and housework may be as good as formal exercise when it comes to reducing the risk for heart attack and stroke.’ Heart health: Now that’s quite a bonus.

A Dutch study asked two groups of people to complete a stressful task and concluded that gardening for 30 minutes after said task resulted in lower cortisol levels. Cortisol is the hormone associated with stress. Had a rough day? Get in your garden and let the stress melt away.

Stress is a HUGE health risk, so this benefit of gardening is a big deal, folks.

How does a dynamic, beautiful landscape that you know intimately, that you are in fact responsible for creating, make you feel? Probably pretty happy.

There’s also a scientific reason that gardening makes you happy. Studies suggest that inhaling M. vaccae, a healthy bacteria that lives in soil, can increase levels of serotonin and reduce anxiety. According to Discover Magazine, ‘you get a dose [of M. vaccae] just by taking a walk in the wild or rooting around in the garden’ and this ‘could help elicit a jolly state of mind.’

Research at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that the light activity associated with gardening can help you sleep better at night.

Sleep is so vital to good health; this is a benefit you shouldn’t ignore.

All that digging, planting, and pulling does more than produce plants. Gardening activities will increase your hand strength. What a great way to keep your hands and fingers as strong as possible for as long as possible.

Gardening can be a solo activity, or an opportunity for bonding with your family and friends. The happiness and stress relief that gardening provides is a great thing to share with loved ones. Also, gardening has special benefits for kids. Early exposure to dirt has been linked to all kinds of long-term health benefits, from reducing allergies to autoimmune diseases.

Gardening is a great way to absorb vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin. Vitamin D is crucial in order to maintain healthy bones and teeth, and it can also protect against certain diseases.

Impacts the environment:

We always hear about the negative impact humans have on the environment, but by gardening we can truly "go green" to benefit the earth. Plants act as highly effective air cleaners, absorbing carbon dioxide, plus many air pollutants, while releasing clean oxygen and fragrance. Also, a dense cover of plants and mulch holds soil in place, reducing erosion and keeping sediment out of streams, storm drains and roads.

By planting new gardens, such as rain gardens, we can make use of the rain water run-off and help prevent harmful pollutants from making it in our streams and lakes. Native gardens, like rain gardens, are not only good for the environment they are low maintenance, beautiful, and easy on the wallet!

Besides being good for the environment gardens have environmental gains for us. It has been proven that an effective, environmental landscape design can cool your home in summer and warm it in winter. Energy efficient landscaping can actually reduce your energy costs by up to 20%, according to the Plants for Clean Air Council.

The sun produces heat which is used to heat up the earth’s atmosphere. A greenhouse gas known as carbon dioxide assists with keeping the heat on the earth’s surface. If greenhouse gas did not exist, then there would be no heat on planet earth. Our planet would be cold all the time instead of warm during most seasons. When there are too many greenhouse gasses produced it causes a problem for the Earth’s temperature all year around. This is called global warming. Global warming is a negative impact on the earth and causes the planet to have difficulty cooling down. Plants that are produced help with reducing global warming. The garden plants take out the carbon dioxide from the air. They then use that carbon dioxide for themselves to make energy. This is a very helpful way that gardens continuously help the environment.

Increase property value:

A garden/landscaping design can be considered an investment for the future. A tastefully designed yard can add "curb-appeal" to your house and in turn increase the overall value of ones home. Besides adding monetary value a garden can help one sell their house faster than the average home owner.

Growing green:

A vegetable garden will ensure customers of the freshness and quality of what they are eating. In this day and age where pesticides and fertilizers are overused consider the comfort you will have when you know exactly what has touched your fruits and veggies! Plus a vegetable garden is a great way to gain responsibility and personal satisfaction.

When growing your own food, your diet is more diverse and healthy, packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Food in its rawest, freshest form is not only the tastiest way to enjoy it, but also the most nutritional. The majority of produce sold in grocery stores go through a long process of being harvested, shipped and distributed to stores. Once distributed, the produce can end up staying in storage or on the shelf for an extended period of time before being purchased, losing nutritional value.

You can save a lot of money by growing your own vegetables and fruits. By spending a few dollars on seeds, plants, and supplies in the spring, you will produce vegetables that will yield pounds of produce in summer.

Long-distance transportation of produce relies heavily on fossil fuels. Growing your own food would help reduce the reliance on this transportation that is harming the environment. Also, by growing your own food, you are not using chemicals or pesticides that can harm environment.

Benefits kids with school gardens:

Academic:

Positive impact on student achievement and behavior

Significantly increase science achievement score

Environmental Attitudes:

Instill appreciation and respect for nature that lasts into adulthood

Improve environmental attitudes, especially in younger students

Social:

Study shows that when young children are participating in garden activities they are: (1) communicating their knowledge about the world to others, (2) conveying emotions, and (3) developing important skills that will help them be more successful in school.

Improve life skills, including working with groups and self-understanding

Improve social skills and behavior

Nutrition and Health:

Positive changes in BMI, and several dietary behaviors

Review of literature supported idea that youth garden programs have the potential to increase fruit and vegetable intake and increase willingness to try fruits and vegetables.

Positive social interaction during gardening, harvesting, sharing, preparing, and eating produce may influence young people’s food consciousness and eating habits.

Increase servings of fruits and vegetables more than students in a non-gardening nutrition education program and a control group

Increase children’s knowledge about the benefits of eating fruit and vegetables and participants reported eating healthier snacks

Increase interest in eating fruits and vegetables and improve attitude toward fruits and vegetables

Improve nutrition knowledge and vegetable preferences

Improve attitude toward vegetables and toward fruit and vegetable snacks

Self satisfaction:

Gardening and landscaping is truly becoming an art form. Planning, planting and watching your own garden grow can fill a person with satisfaction and pride. Gardening is truly a life-time hobby. The more you learn the more proficient one gets and the possibilities become endless.

So what's stopping you from starting your own garden and landscape design? Start reaping the many benefits that a garden can add to your life. Now is the time to find your own reason why you should garden!

With that all said, there is still a multitude of other reasons to have a garden. Now get out there and Grow For It !

#changetheworld #changeyourlife