Farming has been part of some people’s lives because of their hard-working ancestors. To some, however, farming is almost impossible because of their city life and the constant development around them. But, do you know that anyone can start their little farming ground? That’s right!
Backyard gardening has enabled many people to create their own sources of food, minimize their stress level, improve their mood, exercise, maintain good mental health, create relationships and a community, and so many more.
If you’re on the verge of creating your backyard garden and need a little push to do so, you may find some useful information in this article. We will discuss with you the 12 reasons why backyard gardening is essential.
Reasons Why Backyard Gardening Is Important
For some people, backyard gardening is “just another hobby”, but for others, it is a means to improve their overall life and food quality. If you have a vacant garden in your house, then it’s the best time to start practicing your gardening skills.
Here are 12 benefits of backyard gardening.
1. It improves your mood
Backyard gardening can significantly increase your self-esteem and improve your mood.
A research was conducted on people diagnosed with depression and who partook in a gardening activity. During this session, expert psychiatrists monitored their mental health and recorded that their anxiety and depression levels had decreased. The participants’ improvements lasted for months after the 12-week program had stopped.
Researchers also found out that there are bacteria in the soil that increase one’s level of serotonin, which is a chemical known to increase positive feelings over one’s well-being.
Shinri-yoku
There’s a Japanese phrase, “shinri-yoku,” that translates to “green-bathing.” Many people interpret this as a positive reinforcement of spending time with nature. By doing gardening, you allow yourself to be immersed in nature, which positively affects your mood and mental health.
Most gardeners suggest that gardening at least 45 minutes every morning, before engaging in any other activity in the house, can help you prepare both mentally and physically.
2. It reduces stress
As a result of the first reason, backyard gardening is a way to reduce the stress you’re experiencing.
Another set of research has been conducted with participants who had recently experienced a stressful event in their lives. Half of the participants were asked to do gardening activities, and the other half were asked to read.
After partaking in the given activities, researchers recorded that the stress levels of the participants who did gardening were significantly lower and that the activity had left them with a positive state of mind. Meanwhile, the other group’s stress level had only decreased minimally.
If you’re in a job or environment that constantly makes you stressed, doing backyard gardening can be extremely helpful to you. By doing this activity a couple of hours a week, you can be sure that you’ll have better control over your stress and emotions.
3. It fights diseases
Backyard gardening not only helps you mentally and emotionally, but also physically. Indeed, since you’re out gardening in the sun, you absorb the sun’s nutrients that your skin needs — vitamin D.
Research shows that by spending just 30 minutes under the sun, your skin (depending on your skin tone and the amount of clothes you are wearing) can produce vitamin D of around 8,000 to 50,000 international units. With this amount of IU, there’s no doubt that you can boost your immune system and strengthen your body.
Based on this research, many people have connected lower risks of contracting diseases and just hanging out under the sun. Such diseases may include:
- Prostate cancer
- Breast cancer
- Bladder cancer
- Colorectal cancer
- Multiple sclerosis
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Type II diabetes
- Psoriasis flares, and many more.
Many people have been skeptical about gardening since it has been linked with skin cancer due to too much exposure to the sun. Although, it’s worth noting that gardening won’t require you to spend the entire day out in the sun. Rather, most gardeners only spend 30 minutes to an hour gardening in the morning, and another set in the afternoon.
4. It improves memory
Backyard gardening has also been linked by some researchers to improved memory. Indeed, during a study conducted in 2014, patients who had been diagnosed with dementia were asked to engage in gardening. Researchers have discovered that people who participated in this activity increased their brain nerve growth, which is responsible for our memories.
In Norway and the Netherlands, people who were diagnosed with dementia have the option to participate in their Greencare programs, in which people spend most of their days gardening or farming.
5. It helps with addiction recovery
Another benefit of backyard gardening is that it helps anyone who’s recovering from addiction. Indeed, some studies suggest that people who experienced alcohol addiction were able to significantly improve when they did gardening, as touching plants procures positive feelings.
6. It builds strength
If you’re always busy and don’t have the time to go to the gym, then gardening could be your next hobby. As if lifting pots and plants from one place to another was not enough exercise, cutting and raking grass, digging, shoveling, and chopping wood provide a whole new set of exercises that your body can take.
Studies also suggested that working in the garden can help people with childhood obesity and decrease weight gain.
There are many reasons to spend time in a garden. It offers humans tremendous health benefits and is a recreational activity that makes you feel relaxed. But, did you know that there are ways to use your garden to make money? Read our article to know how to make money from gardening.
7. It provides a source of food
One of the most obvious reasons why backyard gardening is important is because it can become one of your sources of food. Not only are you sure that the produce is fresh and organic, but you also don’t have to pay anything to get herbs and vegetables.
Also, by having a food haven in your backyard, you don’t need to worry about supermarkets closing or whether there are changes of products depending on the seasons. Wouldn’t it be nice to just sit down with your family and eat a salad that came from your backyard?
8. It minimizes your grocery budget
As a consequence of the previously mentioned reason, having fruits, vegetables, and herbs in your backyard can reduce your grocery budget. Whether you want cabbage, chilies, carrots, and anything else, you can start planting these in your backyard.
Other gardeners were proud to mention that they were able to reduce most of their grocery budget by 40% thanks to the ample food supply coming right from their garden.
Another reason for backyard gardening that is worth mentioning is that if you have too much food for your family’s consumption, you can sell your excess produce to your friends, family, and neighbors. This could turn into a small business that you can do to earn some extra cash from the sideline.
9. It helps save the Earth
In everything that we do, there have been radical changes in our environment. For instance, doing backyard gardening can reduce your personal and family’s carbon footprint. By growing your own plants, fruits, and vegetables, you can help save a lot of birds and bees.
It’s also a good idea to incorporate some birdhouses or areas from which animals can drink water so that you can help other species as well.
10. It is a recreational activity for the family
If you’re wondering what could be an exciting and productive activity for your kids, then backyard gardening should be at the top of your list. Children can learn how to take care of their own plants and, when the time comes to start growing fruits, they can feel empowered and get a feeling of achievement.
Besides, some studies observed that children who were able to learn new skills while gardening had encouraged other children to do the same. By simply encouraging your kids to give you a hand with your gardening activities, you can help them physically, mentally, and socially.
11. It makes a great bridge to create a community
Community gardening has been included in the many governmental programs mainly because it helps promote healthy and helpful people around the community. Simply exchanging knowledge and helping one another to plant crops promotes a sense of commitment to one another.
12. It increases the value of your property
The last reason why backyard gardening is important is that it increases the overall value of your property. Indeed, research shows that landscaping alone increases your property’s value by at least 77% and can improve the overall appeal of your curb.
Out of all the improvements that you can make, both inside and outside your house, gardening provides you with the most chances of selling your house at a much higher price. Also, compared to improving your property by adding extensions, driveways, and basements, gardening requires the least amount of money.
Growing your own plants is a very rewarding activity. But if you live in the city, the lack of outdoor space may be one of the biggest challenges that you will face if you want to take up gardening as a hobby. The solution to this problem is backyard urban gardening. If you are not familiar with this term, check out our article where we explained what backyard urban gardening is.
Final Thoughts
As you have seen in this article, there are plenty of reasons why people enjoy and promote gardening. Not only does gardening help you improve your physical and mental health, you can also benefit financially from this activity. With all the reasons we’ve provided as to why backyard gardening is important, we do not doubt that you’ll be able to start this activity on your own very soon.
Whether you have huge backyard space or not, you will be able to start gardening in a matter of hours. If this is your first time to try gardening, you can read beginner gardening guides on the internet to boost your confidence. The results of gardening are not instant, but as long as you patiently and diligently do this activity, you will reap its benefits sooner than you think.