10 Reasons You Should Plant Your Own Garden

If you’re a garden lover, you probably can’t imagine life without a plethora of plants. One hanging succulent in your car might just not feel like enough! Why put mulch under a tree when I can put in spring ephemerals? However, to a gardening novice, a plant paradise could seem like a summer of watering plants with your sweat when you could be cooling off in a pool. Your grandmother planted a garden, so is gardening just a vintage pastime? And why spend money on things that are potentially temporary? I’d rather buy a watch than wait for watermelon seeds. Maybe you’d rather just buy a watermelon at the store than the seeds, too. I’m losing my crowd! Seriously, gardening is a seriously rewarding art and science, and sport. Allow me to explain.

1. It’s good heart medicine.

Cheerios are good for heart health, but more than taking care of your physical heart, gardening takes care of your metaphorical heart. The heart that feels first love, your parents’ deaths, your first day of kindergarten, and your last day of senior year can be applied to gardening. Enjoy the milestones of your first seed of the season sprouting, the season’s first frost, and everything in between.

2. You get to watch things grow every day.

Gardening is an art that changes through time, so it’s both 3D art and 4D art. Your observation skills will be trained as you begin to notice the smallest changes, even throughout the day. Now I can be a security guard! If you have trouble observing growth, try taking pictures. Now I need a phone with a bigger memory to preserve my garden in 2D!

3. It’s a great backdrop for photos.

I also love seeing babies on blankets with circles around their ages! However, a garden makes a beautiful backdrop for photos, as they create intricate and immersive atmospheres. Why just have outdoor flowers in the shot for wedding photos? An advanced gardener can plant something to be in interest practically year round, but naturally, nature always looks nice too.

4. The scents are lovely.

A nursery assistant can direct you to the plants sold with their smell in mind, but truly every plant has a smell. Leaves are smelly too! Intoxicate your outdoor conversations with the aromatherapy of your own garden. Although people typically put their nose right in the bouquet like a wine to smell, plants can actually be smelled from far away too. Now I’m planting like they’re Glade Plug-Ins!

5. You get to exercise like an ancient.

Ancients didn’t have weights or bands, they built muscles from working with plants. All those weeds you pulled add up into a natural, healthy, Greek statuesque body personal trainers are paid to help you emulate. Now I just have to learn how to weed!

6. You get to exercise your creativity.

Gardening is a great exercise in creativity. Make your own color scheme. Make a theme, like a mini nana garden or a patriotic garden, or choose a country or region and design with their native or beloved plants. Plant a goth garden with black plants. Make a Vine garden with only vines. Sure, there are conventions, but maybe those conventions are made to be broken. Now I’m planting pink and orange together!

7. It’s like learning a new language.

Do you remember how rewarding it was to learn your first word in Spanish? Learning plant names and their environmental requirements is a very rewarding process. Enjoy your learning curve in this language and have a conversation about your garden with other people. Now I’m learning all the plant names in Spanish, too!

8. Gardening will make you very present.

You know that feeling at the end of a movie in the theater when everyone is in emotional catharsis as the credits roll? You’re peering from outside of your body and you are so self-aware in the darkness. Over time, gardening can emulate those feelings too, and soon you’ll be calm in all of your daily interactions. Now I’m more in the room than my therapist!

9. It’s horticultural therapy.

Whether you’re in therapy or not, gardening is a wellness exercise that can benefit you emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Teas can be taken medicinally and can also be drunk when you’re well for extra wellness, and it’s the same with gardening. Gardening teaches diligence, a strong work ethic, and stamina. Gardening is an exercise in control and lack of control. Gardening is moving meditation. Now I’m doing group therapy with all of the bees!

10. You’ll find your own reasons.

Just dive in like the pool you were going to dive into! There are lots of resources to learn how to garden online and forums to go to with questions. A good place to start might be to research the animals that visit your garden first so you know what to plant that won’t get eaten and to also research sun and moisture requirements. Soon you’ll be on your way to cultivating your most awesome plant plans or entertaining your wildest spontaneity! There’s no grade! If you don’t know what to do or where to start, just put some ground soil into a pot and water it to see what grows for free! Good luck, gardenista!