Gardening has been proven to improve mental and physical health.
Research suggests that gardening can improve people's mental health in two ways: through the aesthetic appreciation of nature and because gardening brings people together. Scientists believe that gardening's benefits are due to the fact that the activity can be a multisensory experience.
“The tastes, the textures, the sensations — the wind on your face and hair, feeling the elements of nature — and it makes people feel alive, it awakens them in a way,” Jill Litt, a senior research scientist at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, explained to The Washington Post. “These are very therapeutic things.”
The smells and sounds of nature, in particular, have a positive impact on a person's mental health. From the birds singing in the morning to the scent of flowers, nature-based activities like gardening benefit from being immersed in all that nature has to offer. Being surrounded by nature reduces stress, a phenomenon that researchers attribute to attention restoration theory, which suggests that nature may stimulate the mind by gently capturing a person's attention.
But what sets gardening apart from other nature-based activities is that gardening “requires active participation” and “gets your hands in the soil,” making it a more athletic experience that can improve your physical health. From digging to planting, gardening requires a level of physical investment that counts as exercise.
Tilling the soil and tending life is also socially beneficial, and many thrive in community gardening spaces that bring people together with a common purpose.
“This is all textbook ways to build strong relationships,” Litt said. “We're inviting them to come back to the yard because they have a responsibility.”
Gardening at home creates a different kind of social connection (Getty Images)
Litt also points out that gardening at home can create other kinds of social connections, even on a smaller scale: Her research has found that people who garden at home tend to be more involved in their communities, more likely to vote in local elections and join their local homeowners association.
In a survey of 4,919 middle-aged and older Australians last year, researchers found that those who gardened for at least 2.5 hours each week reported better mental health and life satisfaction, and the data showed that the benefits of gardening were more pronounced in adults aged 64 and over.
The act of growing and tending a garden has been proven to bring both physical and mental relief. Whatever your purpose in gardening, whether it's to grow food or to create a beautiful display for decorative purposes, gardening is often a meditative experience that brings people back to reality and gets in touch with the senses.
