The "Best" Gardening Tip??? KEEP GARDENING!!

[Daddieo]

Gardening offers a number of benefits. It is a way to grow and harvest your own food. It can create a nice landscape for your yard. It’s also a pleasant and low stress way to spend some time
outside. You might be surprised to know that gardening can also improve
your emotional health. Here’s how:

Gardening requires focus
Gardening is a task, like many creative tasks, that requires
focus. Digging, planting, and caring for the flowers, fruits and
vegetables in your garden help you turn off an overactive mind. You’re
able to instead focus on one thing – gardening. It helps you tune out
the rest of the world for a while.

Gardening can actually help you find a meditative state
When you’re in this state your body and mind both relax. You’re able to find calm and awareness. It quiets the mind so those thoughts that have
been plaguing you are sent away for a while.
It’s so effective at calming the mind and body that gardening programs
are often used as therapy. People who are in mental health facilities
and even prisons have been shown to receive tremendous benefit from
gardening.

Gardening Stimulates the Mind
Gardening also provides you with a creative outlet. It stimulates your mind and requires you to solve problems too. In addition to planning a
garden you also need to pay attention to the logistics.

You want to make sure your garden ahs all the nutrients it needs. Pest control, insect control, disease management and nutrition are all required for healthy plants. Additionally, you probably want to grow an
aesthetically pleasing garden. That means spending time planning not
only the location of various plants but how plants work together and
fit to create a visually appealing garden.

Gardening also appeals to your senses which stimulate your mind
Your hands are digging in the dirt. You’re surrounded by life and you’re playing an active role in creating it. You can smell the
flowers, touch the soft leaves of your plant and see the vibrant
colors.
When your mind is stimulated creatively and is involved in problem
solving, it can help you learn to manage other things. If you’re
dealing with fears, depression, anxiety and stress, gardening can help
you learn to manage those emotions.

Gardening provides a purpose
There are many reasons to have a garden. The most basic is for beauty. A Zen garden for example can provide a tranquil escape. A wildflower
garden can provide unfettered beauty. A vegetable garden can provide
sustenance. When you have a purpose and can follow through on that
purpose, it helps build self esteem and confidence. It gives you a
reason to get up in the morning. You can watch your efforts pay off by
creating the garden you desire.

Good for the Body is Good for the Mind
Finally, gardening is good for you physically. You’re moving your muscles and spending time outside. Time in the sun produces vitamin D
which has been shown to be essential for mental health. Fresh air and
sunshine is always good to help you relax and alleviate stress. And
when your body is moving and active it produces endorphins. They are
the feel good hormones produced by exercise. They help provide
emotional well being.

Gardening provides an abundance of benefits for emotional well being. If you need to relax, ease depression or find a little joy
consider gardening. Take great care of yourself, both body and mind.

 

[Merry]

Transplanted peonies into my holding bed yesterday. Best tip is to use aspirin water every so often to boost the plants. I.5 uncoated tablets to 2 gallons of water. I have a treasure chest of crowded perrenials in my yard. Sooo lovely to work with. I have to make more nursery beds so that I can dig up the flower beds one clump at a time and pull out all the weeds and seperate the crowded flowers. We moved into our home in the winter and the yard was buried under a good 2 feet of snow. Didn't know till the spring that the yard was twice the size we thought it was nor did we know that it was chock full of fiddle head ferns and different daylillies and irises and phlox and columbine and mystery plants - O my.