We all know that gardening is an enjoyable activity, but it’s also a quick way to stay healthy. After all, tending to your garden requires regular physical effort and you’re bound to be carrying gardening tools and equipment all the time. And what about all that force you need to exert when you’re digging with a shovel!
To elaborate on this, here are my top 5 gardening activities that can help enhance your health.
Weeding
This isn’t necessarily physically intensive, but a weed infestation can make you work up a sweat. Other than using herbicide, which might be selective or non-selective, you can manually remove weeds from your garden. Timing is important here since you don’t want the weeds to germinate. Instead of just cutting off the stems, you have to pull up the roots completely as well.
Now, imagine how long it can take for you to get rid of all affected patches. You’ll constantly be using your hands to reach the base of the weeds. Furthermore, you’ll train your legs and behind as you bend or kneel down. Weeds can spread aggressively all throughout the year, so you’ll never run out of opportunities to exercise a bit.
Application Of Fertilizer, Herbicide, and Pesticide
Fending off weeds and pests requires time and energy. If you don’t want to remove them using your own hands, you can buy herbicide and pesticide. Remember to read the instructions carefully and protect yourself from chemicals so that you can avoid a paraquat settlement. Still, you have to carry a sprayer all around the garden. Once the container is empty, you’ll have to go back to refill it. If you have a large garden, you’re better off using a pesticide backpack sprayer. This means exercising not only your hands and legs but also your back.
Even lawn fertilizing can be a part of your active lifestyle. You have to walk around the garden to carefully cover the area with fertilizer. It’s important to ensure that even coverage is achieved. Otherwise, your plants won’t grow at the same rate and some might receive more nutrients than necessary. In addition, using a lawn spreader requires sufficient strength to push it around and keep it stable.
Here’s a video of someone using a fertilizer spreader:
Pruning And Shearing
Overgrowth can ruin the overall appearance of your garden. Thus, it’s a good idea to prune your trees and hedges from time to time. Whether you have pruning scissors for shrubs or a pole for reaching tall branches, you’ll exercise your body. Carrying gardening equipment around helps burn some calories. You spend more time using your hands, legs, arms, and shoulders as you work on all of your shrubs and trees.
The overall weight of a pruner also keeps you more engaged. It’s as if you’re lifting weights as you raise a gas-powered or battery-powered pruner high up. Still, we recommend doing some stretching exercises first. This will help improve your heart and blood flow while also loosening your joints. Essentially, warming up alerts your muscles that you will be using them.
Of course, if some of your shrubs and bushes have grown completely out of control or if they are simply out of your reach it would would be a good idea to get your annual pruning done by certified arborists in Riverside or other such areas.
General Cleaning And Maintenance
Imagine it is already spring, and your garden needs some cleaning up after winter. You get your rake to remove all of the debris. Likewise, you notice a thick layer of thatch that’s affecting how much water the soil can absorb. You exert more strength as you rake even deeper to remove the thatch.
Similarly, patches of grey grass have appeared. This is a sign of the snow mould disease, and you also have to rake these areas. In other words, even a single gardening tool can be used for several physically intensive activities. Then there’s the shovel that you need to dig into the soil before planting or transplanting. A shovel is already pretty heavy, but you also have to push it down into the soil.
Relaxing In Your Garden
When we speak of health, we also refer to one’s mental health. Work and family responsibilities can be stressful. Sometimes, all you need to feel more relaxed is to go to your garden and clear your mind. Let your eyes rest by looking at the green foliage. Furthermore, the fragrant scent of flowers also helps. In addition, the gardening activities we previously mentioned will give you a sense of accomplishment as your body produces more serotonin.
As you can see, gardening is good not only for your body but also for your mind. Health has both physical and mental aspects, and your garden can help you improve them. We hope that this inspired you to appreciate gardening. If you have any questions, feel free to send us a comment.
