JUST IN: Gardening is good for your health

GARDENING IS GREAT FOR YOUR HEALTH! 

As some of you may know we just had #NationalGardenWeek - a time where all of us passionate about gardening share ...well why we are passionate about gardening. 

And why wouldn't you love gardening!? Its relaxing, its fun and according to a recent study..its great for your mental health! Here at ASG, we are passionate about gardening, so here is a list of the many benefits to gardening (based on some solid research by Carly Wood from The Conversation.  

It's Physical: 

Gardening of any description is an opportunity for physical activity, in fact the act of gardening is seen as moderate intensity - the equivalent to playing doubles tennis or going on a brisk walk. Don't believe us? A recent survey conducted by Carly Wood at the University of Westminster across 269 people found a correlation between gardeners and a lower body max index...they also found that a large percentage of non-gardeners were classified as over weight. 

 

Enhances your mood

Research  has shown that gardeners generally have greater life satisfaction, enhanced self esteem and fewer feelings of depression and fatigue then those who don't garden.  The very act of gardening can actually improve peoples moods - asking people about their mood before and after gardening, Carly found that their mood had improved. 

"We saw these benefits no matter how long the participants had spent on their allotment in the particular session, in the last seven days or how long they had been gardening for in totally. 

 

Gardening can help stress

Gardening can help increase life satisfaction and both reduce and promote the recovery from stress. Carly suggests that gardening can actually lead to greater reductions in stress (even more so than reading). 

So there you have it. Forget running on the treadmill at the gym or those  pricey therapy classes... just chuck on some gloves in get into that garden! 

#NationalGardeningWeek