People have different hobbies, some love to cook, some love to dance, whereas, some love to do other things. Having hobbies have a lot of benefits, they help you get engaged, and spend time in a good way. Gardening as a hobby is one such activity that has a lot of good impacts on you.
Gardening has been in existence for many centuries, it is practised as a hobby, as a job and for personal benefits. When you grow plants, it is not only good for your physical and mental well-being but also you also receive products like fruits and vegetables.
Furthermore, gardening is a stress booster and helps you stay fit and fine. Moreover, it helps you develop cognitive skills, reduce your stress & anxiety and relax your body and mind.
Let’s explore other benefits of gardening as a hobby and discuss its significance for teenagers.
The Therapeutic Benefits of Gardening as a Hobby
According to a study conducted to ascertain the therapeutic benefits of gardening, two groups were assigned different tasks after having a psychologically stressful job. One group was asked to read and the other group was asked to do gardening. Both groups showed lower levels of cortisol, whereas, the gardening group had comparatively less cortisol levels in the blood.
Note- An increased level of cortisol hormones may result in stress build-up. It is good if the cortisol levels remain balanced.
Like the lower cortisol levels, gardening as a hobby for teenagers can have other good benefits for them. It helps improve their self-esteem, social connection, and teamwork skills and also helps in keep themselves balanced.
Gardening as a Hobby For Physical Health
Well, if you notice, gardening involves a lot of physical activity like shovelling, lifting, cutting, watering and other activities. All this helps you in releasing sweat from your body as these activities burn calories. Further, when you burn calories, it helps decrease the risks of heart attack, diabetes, and other diseases.
When you do hard work in fresh air, exposing yourself to the sun, you reap the benefits of improved breathing and a lower risk of skin cancer. If teenagers are taught about all such health benefits of gardening, they will surely choose it as a habit.
Additionally, gardening helps you in strength training and improves the flexibility of your body.
Forming a Connection with Nature
Nowadays, teenagers are more engaged in their phones than any other things. They love to spend their time indoors which is not good for their personality and also for nature. Teenagers need to be taught how to connect with nature through gardening.
When we do gardening, we not only grow our own fruits and vegetables but also provide food and home to insects, birds and animals. Furthermore, our grown plants and flowers help in the natural pollination process which is beneficial for nature.
It is our responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint, hence, forming a connection with nature is really important.
Conserving the Environment
With the help of sustainable gardening by adopting organic gardening practices, we can conserve the environment. Instead of using chemical fertilizers in your garden, choose to use compost and manure.
Grow native plants and check on the invasive species, this helps to develop a healthy ecosystem for the native species which further benefits the environment.
With all these gardening practices, you help conserve the environment and play a vital role in nature conservation.
Educational Aspects of Gardening
For teenagers, gardening is a way to get them educated about the types of plant species and the way of growing fruits and vegetables. Moreover, it helps you develop skills like taking responsibility, understanding how nature works and taking care of your garden.
They can learn biology, botany and horticulture and explore new domains to enrich their knowledge. This will not only help them in their personal growth, but if they find it interesting, they can pursue a career in it.
With proper research about gardening, teenagers can learn a lot of things like soil science, environment, ecology and sustainable living.
Types of Gardens
When you do gardening and have ample space left, you can choose to pursue different types of gardening. Apart from mixed gardening, you can pursue your hobbies in flower gardening, vegetable gardening, fruit gardening, or herb gardening.
The type of garden you want to have depends upon the space that you possess. If you do rooftop gardening then you would have limited options, whereas, if you have free space surrounding your home then you can do any type of gardening.
Gardening Communities and Sharing Knowledge
When you develop an interest in gardening and become enthusiastic about it, you can join gardening communities to gain and share knowledge. In this way, you will be able to discuss things, share your ideas and motivate others to do gardening.
Teenagers are more active on social media, they can create a chain of people who adopt gardening as a hobby by sharing their experiences through groups and channels.
Overcoming Challenges in Gardening
Although gardening is a fun activity which involves growing and taking care of your plants, it can also have a lot of challenges. Plants face diseases, pest attacks and weather-related issues.
To counter all such issues, you need to be educated about gardening. Learn from your elders or gardening communities to mitigate the risk of any kind of issues with gardening.
Furthermore, with the help of the internet, you can do proper research before introducing a new plant into your garden. If you observe any weird kinds of changes in your garden, you may contact the forestry department or botany department of your area.
Also read: The Art Of Crafting: Its Importance And Benefits
Conclusion
Gardening as a habit not only gives you physical benefits but also helps you in mental peace. Moreover, gardening helps you develop some of the most required skills like, cognitive skills. Other than that, you get products like fruits, herbs and vegetables.
Apart from personal benefits, gardening also has benefits for nature and the environment. Sustainable gardening can be beneficial for future generations.
Gardening as a habit comes with many benefits but it also involves a lot of challenges. If you are educated and do proper research, the challenges related to gardening can easily be faced.
Shreya Bhatt