Did you know that gardening is actually one of the healthiest hobbies you can take up? Not only can homegrown produce improve your general health, but regular at-home gardening can also expose your body to Vitamin D, help promote sleep, improve your mood, and so much more.
At Paragon Tool Hire, we stock a range of gardening and landscaping tools, available to rent at affordable rates. From brush cutters to mowers and shredders, we’ve got everything you need to become a seasoned at-home gardener. To find out more about our reliable tool hire services, please get in touch. Call us on 0128 0822 282 and speak to one of our friendly advisors today.
How Gardening Benefits Your Health
As well as creating a stunning landscape to admire for months to come, spending time in your garden can also help keep your mind and body healthy. Some of the many proven health benefits of gardening include:
Reduce Stress & Anxiety
According to the British Psychological Society, gardening has both immediate and long-term effects on mental health. Spending just a few hours planting, digging, raking or weeding your garden can help to reduce the symptoms of stress and anxiety significantly. Gardening also requires physical exertion, relieving frustration through strenuous activities that can be tailored to suit your abilities.
Strengthen Immune System
Regular exposure to soil and plants can help to build a stronger immune system. The non-pathogenic bacterium found in the soil activates serotonin in the brain, training the immune system to ignore harmless bacteria in the body and target those that cause illness.
Engage in Physical Exercise
One of the most obvious health benefits of gardening is physical strength. Able to improve your flexibility, balance and muscle and joint health, gardening is an effective low-impact workout for your body.
Enhance Brain Function
Proven to improve cognitive function, spending time working on your garden can significantly boost brain power, particularly among the older generations.
Lower Blood Pressure
Navigating everyday life can be stressful, and can even feel unmanageable at times. Stepping away from your everyday routine and turning to nature can help to lower your blood pressure, promoting peace and relaxation.
Improve Sleep
Did you know that gardening can actually help you sleep better? Gardening may well be a meditative task that can help to relax your mind, but it’s also considered moderate exercise. From digging, planting bulbs and watering plants, you can actually burn a significant amount of energy. This can, in turn, have you spending less time counting sheep and more time getting a good night's rest!
Increase Vitamin D Exposure
Any time spent outside of your home can provide a healthy dose of Vitamin D. Particularly beneficial for older adults, exposure to sunlight can increase your calcium levels, known to improve the strength of your bones and immune system.
Eat Healthily
Growing your own fruit and vegetables can help to complement a balanced diet, ensuring your body receives fresh produce that hasn’t been treated with pesticides.
Benefits of Gardening | Mental Health
If you’re currently struggling with your mental health, taking up gardening could just be the calming, stress-relieving outlet you’ve been searching for.
When you’re battling a period of anxiety or depression, it can be hard to find a sense of purpose, or even adhere to a basic routine. Growing plants gives us a sense of responsibility, after all, if we don’t care for our plants, they’ll die. Knowing that we need to wake up, get dressed and see to our garden gives us the sense of purpose that we may be lacking.
In addition, multiple studies have proven that time spent in green spaces can promote relaxation. Nurturing plants can help us feel more at peace with our surroundings, boosting our overall self-esteem and encouraging us to live in the moment. If you often find yourself feeling overwhelmed or out of control of your current circumstances, gardening can help to put you back in the driver's seat. Spending time arranging a vegetable patch or organising your garden can help you to feel more in control of your life, providing a level of satisfaction that you may not have felt in a long time.
How Can We Help You On Your Journey to Better Health?
The health benefits of gardening are undeniable; proven to improve our physical and mental well-being. Whether you’re a novice gardener looking to take up a new hobby or have been weeding and trimming for years, we can kit you out with a full collection of high-quality gardening tools, sure to make light work of any landscaping task. To find out more about our gardening tools for hire, please get in touch. Call us on 0128 082 282 and speak to one of our friendly, knowledgeable team members today.