How Gardening Can Be Unexpectedly Good For Your Health

Since time immemorial, humans have loved to garden. The connection between people and nature goes back way longer than all of us have been alive, and from the days of hunter-gathering to our contemporary obsession with houseplants, we've always had green thumbs. And it looks as though our love of tending to flowers and spending time in vegetable patches shows no signs of slowing down. Over three-quarters of all American households spend time, energy, and money on their gardens, according to GlobeNewswire, with approximately $2.5 billion spent annually in the United States on gardens (per data from the National Gardening Association, via Your Green Pal).

But here's the thing. Gardening can act as a gloriously peaceful pastime and an excellent way to get fresh produce onto your plate, but the reason why we really love it? Because it's seriously good for your health. You might not think it, but simply pottering around in your garden can provide you with a range of health benefits, and we're here to lay them out for you. So grab your spade, and let's dig in.

We all know that the garden is a lot of people's happy place, but what's incredible is how impactful simple gardening can be on anxiety symptoms. A meta-analysis published in Preventive Medicine Reports examined the overall effects of gardening on health, with a particular focus on its impact on mental health. The researchers found that across several studies, gardening was found to decrease anxiety, as well as provide a benefit for people experiencing other mental health conditions like depression.

So why is gardening so good for anxiety? It all comes down to being in nature and doing a task while doing so, according to Anxiety.org. Wiling away the hours outdoors can allow you to keep your emotions in check more easily and thereby keeps anxiety in check. Spending your time on tasks in the garden, free of distractions, also lets you remain mindful and better embedded in your physical surroundings, with mindfulness practice being a useful treatment path for both anxiety and depression.

Gardening can be eminently relaxing and peaceful, but don't underestimate the amount of hard work you put into a gardening session. And all of this physical labor can benefit one part of your body in particular: Your hands. This is especially true among older adults, as researchers from Kansas State University observed in a study published in HortScience. "One of the things we found is that older adults who are gardeners have better hand strength and pinch force, which is a big concern as you age," states professor of horticulture at Kansas State and study author Candice Shoemaker via Science Daily.

It's important to note, too, that the tasks involved in the study weren't particularly strenuous or difficult, but commonplace gardening activities like filling up pots and mixing soil. The researchers also found that after the study, the people who took part reported better feelings of self-esteem. Although the study group was small, Shoemaker asserted that with a larger pool of people, they could expect to see more benefits, "including in areas like sleep quality and life satisfaction."

Okay, so we're not about to suggest that gardening should take the place of the gym if you're trying to build rippling abs and bulging biceps. But there's no getting away from the fact that gardening regularly is pretty good for muscle tone. When you're gardening, you're performing a range of full-body activities and smaller ones alongside those, that'll target all of your major muscle groups, explains Maryland Primary Care Physicians. As you cart around bags of dirt from place to place and drag around your wheelbarrows or waste containers, you're doing movements that are similar in function to working out with weights in the gym. And all of that reaching into far-away flower beds will provide your muscles with a good old stretch, too.

Remember, though, that like working out with weights, it's important not to overdo it. Make sure you're taking breaks, performing any movements carefully, and not overworking one muscle group and ignoring another one. And always ensure, as with working out, that you're gardening with good form: The last thing you want is to pick up a heavy sack of mulch without using your legs and end up with an injury.

Gardening is a highly enjoyable activity when you're on your own (until you have to tackle the weeds, that is), but boy does it get more fun when you're doing it with other people. And it's more than fun, too: Gardening as part of a group, be that in a community garden or with friends or family, can generate stronger social bonds and a greater ability to practice teamwork, explains WebMD.

And having improved social bonds goes far beyond just feeling a sense of community. Feeling part of a social group and having social connections, be that with friends, family, or other people in your world, can improve your physical and mental health, as the National Institutes of Health discusses. It's even been found that having robust, healthy relationships in your life may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, in part thanks to the lowering of stress levels. By contrast, feeling isolated and alone could spike your risk of experiencing mental health issues like depression. All the more reason to put up with your neighbors next time they suggest a group gardening session!

Let's be real: We all want to feel good about ourselves. Whether that's through feeling rewarded at work, in our relationships, or our general lives, it's important to get to the end of the day with a sense of pride. And an easy way to engender that feeling of self-worth is by getting out into your garden.

"Research has shown that regularly interacting with nature can increase our confidence and self-esteem," particularly in older people, states Lottie co-founder and care expert Will Donnelly (via Sustain Health). The seemingly simple acts of digging up weeds and planting vegetables can imbue you with a sense of purpose, and there's also a long-term effect, too, when you get to see the very real fruits of your labor come through. This boost to self-esteem can be provided through performing a relatively minimal amount of gardening. Researchers from both the University of Essex and the University of Westminster observed that it took just a half-hour a week of gardening to develop a greater sense of self-confidence and to feel better overall mental health.

Chronic conditions (or noncommunicable diseases) are responsible for around three-quarters of all deaths worldwide per year, with about 41 million people dying from them, according to the World Health Organization. With the sky-high frequency of these conditions, taking personal measures to try and lower your risk of developing a chronic disease is therefore paramount, and luckily, getting out into the garden is one of the best ways to do it.

The first way it does this is through the physical exercise it provides. "Although more research is needed, recent studies have found that regular gardening or DIY can cut the risk of a heart attack or stroke, and by as much as 30% for those aged 60 and over," states Lottie care expert and co-founder Will Donnelly via Sustain Health. Additionally, when you're growing fruit and vegetables in your garden, you're supplying yourself and your family with a bounty of healthy food options which may also assist in preventing chronic conditions, as a review published in the European Journal of Nutrition shows.

Gardening may be a calming way to spend an afternoon, but the true pleasures of the activity come with long-term results. Seeing that little seedling you planted grow into a mighty oak? There's honestly nothing like it. And all of that long-term activity can affect your mindset, too. "When you garden, you expect growth and change," says Gwenn Fried, manager of horticultural therapy at NYU Langone Medical Center's Rusk Rehabilitation (via The Healthy). "When someone plants a seed and waters it, they have faith that the seed will send roots into the soil to support stems and leaves above. When people see that faith come to fruition, it helps carry the same kind of faith and hope into everyday life."

And having an optimistic outlook has larger implications than just feeling good. People who have a sunnier outlook on the world are generally less susceptible to chronic conditions like heart disease and can experience greater longevity overall, as Healthline explains. When we have more hope overall, we tend to make healthier choices, and those in turn affect our overall health, creating a snowball effect of wellness. 

From small seeds grow great things, people!