Why Is Home Gardening Beneficial to Your Health?

 Vedant has been pleading the case of home gardening and its benefits before his friends for a long time now. Now that most of them are stuck in their homes, they have finally come around to try it and discover its benefits. So, what is so special about having nature’s presence inside your home? Let’s find out.

Have you ever visited a hill station or a garden in your area? The greenery you see is so beautiful, refreshing, and soothing; it makes one release their stress. Nature in general makes one happy. The scent of mud after a rainfall or a rainbow makes one believe in good. We all know how important it is to have a good environment surrounded by us. If I ask you, would you like to stay in an industrial area or more like near a garden? Your answer would be the second option. It means that greenery, nature make you and me happy. But not everyone stays at a hill station or next to a garden, but that does not mean that you cannot build one. The concept of home gardening came into the picture to let a person be surrounded by a good environment.

What is home gardening?

Home gardening is turning a particular part of your house into a domestic environment. With urban development, houses have lost the touch of looking out for greenery. In-home gardening, a person can either be growing flowers or fruits and vegetables. The activity is usually begun as a hobby by many people. Taking up home gardening as a hobby helps you stay in touch with nature. It helps you relieve your stress and breathe fresh oxygen. Home gardening is a way of going green.

Home gardening does not take plenty of work. According to the Centre for disease control and prevention, only 2.5 hours are required in a week to take care of your garden. Having proper tools and gear will let you enjoy your gardening process as well as be safe at the same time. Apart from gardening being a hobby it is of great importance and has many benefits.

Importance of home gardening:

• In case one is growing fruits and vegetables, it will help the person and their family to enjoy fresh and organic material. It guarantees the gardener food security. You can go from buying everything at the supermarket up to a limited bunch of material.
• Gardening can be considered a good form of workout. The activity includes pushing a wheelbarrow, walking, digging, and daily watering. Carrying out these activities is also considered to be counted as a good workout. The strength required here is almost the same you put into machines at the gym.
• If you grow a beautiful garden, the property value of your house will increase. It is because who does not like a well-built outdoor space.
• Gardens are very important to the earth. If you teach your children right from the beginning the benefits of going green, the message will be passed down to generations. Having a garden also inserts conversations with the people you stay around. It helps to build a good community. Children also learn a sense of belongingness.
• Having a home garden creates a link between your mind, body, and spirit. It makes oneself happy. Thus, gardens are important in today’s times.

Advantages of home gardening that have a direct impact on one’s health:

“Health is wealth.” If putting in minimum effort with a short span into gardening can help reduce the possibility of you suffering from harmful conditions, the chance to be taken here is good enough. Let us understand the various health benefits home gardening offers:

• Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a nutrient that one receives from sunlight. Our body requires vitamin D in abundance as a human body requires sunlight for hundreds of bodily functions that begin from strengthening one’s bones up to building a strong immune system. A study by Taylor and Francis Group states that being out in the sun reduces the risk of different types of cancer such as bladder, prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer. Having low Vitamin D can result in suffering from psoriasis flares, type II diabetes, dementia, and more.

• Boosts your mood

Home gardening helps improve one’s mood. It is noticed that being around greenery helps to increase one’s self-esteem and reduce their anxiety level. Gardening makes you happier because there is a thing about nature that lets us have faith in the future. Vedant claims that spending that one hour of the day with his plants and taking care of them fills him to the brim with positivity and motivation.

• Recovering addiction

Horticulture as a therapy has been around for a long time. Plants having the power to boost one’s mood are a part of additional recovery projects. A study states that plants provoke positive feelings in an addict’s aura and thus have proven to be an effective recovery tool. Another rehab incident states that while undergoing recovery an option between art and gardening is provided. Later on, it was found out that people who chose gardening recovered at a faster pace.

• Reduces stress

While one is undergoing stress, if exposed to gardening then the chances of the person becoming calm are possible. Gardening helps one get them together and allow oneself to have a positive mind. Hospitals usually decorate recovery rooms with plants and flowers to help the patient recover from the injury or accident caused to them. Being in the calming presence of his plants relieves Vedant of all the stress and helps him find peace.

• Healthy habits

If one is growing fruits and vegetables in their garden, it directly promotes healthy eating habits not only to the gardener but also to their family. If children are staying in the house, healthy eating habits are indulged in them right from the beginning. You eat food that you have grown thereby, making it a healthy choice.

• Better health

Living in a house with a garden gives a brownie point of having fresh oxygen that allows one to sleep soundly. Interval-based activities like cutting the grass, shoveling, or digging are counted as vigorous exercise thereby improving one’s stamina and body strength.

Some indoor plants one can grow in their house garden are:

• Spider plant

The spider plant has the scientific name Chlorophytum and is also known as a champion cleanser of air. If you have a spider plant in your house, it provides benefits such as cleansing the air, reducing stress, and increasing concentration. Spider plants are non-toxic and thus are edible to animals and young children. 

• Snake plant

The snake plant has the scientific name of Dracaena Trifasciata and is also known as mother-in-law’s tongue plant. A snake plant purifies the air of poisonous gases such as cancer-causing pollutants, CO2, benzene xylene, and more. The snake plant is also considered a good luck plant as it clears the toxins floating in the air thereby allowing people to breathe clean oxygen.

• Aloe vera

Aloe vera has several health benefits. The plant acts as an air purifier. Aloe vera plant requires being watered regularly and indirect sunlight. The plant is mainly used to treat various skin allergies and can thereby be applied to one’s hair, skin as well as can be mixed in food. Home gardening hobbyists like Vedant love planting Aloe Veras for their many benefits.

• Rosemary

Rosemary helps in increasing one’s concentration and has a fragrance that in turn helps one boost their memory. Aside from that rosemary is used in essential oils, soups, salads, and more. Rosemary also helps in reducing joint pain, stimulates hair growth, eases stress, and more.

• Boston Fern

Boston fern helps in purifying the air thereby, getting rid of the toxins in the air. The plant also helps restore the humidity in a room thereby, creating a more cool temperature.

Conclusion

We hope that understanding the importance of home gardening and its various benefits will transform you into a home gardener like Vedant. We must begin acting on the information we hold, and thus you shall also begin house planting today as putting in much less amount of time in return for such great benefits is worthwhile.