A beautiful and well-maintained garden can change how a home is perceived, but there are more reasons than this to consider becoming green-thumbed. Gardening has myriad of benefits. It can increase the useable space on your property, enhance the aesthetics of your home, while even able to boost your mood and improve your physical health.
You can also get your kids involved. Here are some reasons why you should consider gardening.
It Increases Value
Estimates show that having a well maintained and aesthetically pleasing garden can increase the value of your home by as much as 20%. The average home in the UK is worth £216,750, so by these estimates, the average value of a home could rise by £43,250 through garden maintenance.
This significant increase means that it is well worth investing some time in your garden, even if renovations seem like they are a mammoth task. Therefore, if you are thinking about putting your home on the market, you must put some work into the garden to get the best price possible.
It Improves Mental Health
Studies have shown that gardening has significant mood-boosting properties. It has been demonstrated that working outdoors in the garden improves self-esteem, reduces anxiety and makes people feel less depressed.
One study performed involved a 12-week intervention where people with depression participated in gardening. Once the period was over, the researchers gathered data on their mental health and found that aspects of their mental wellbeing had improved.
Additionally, studies have found that gardening can also help you to recover after stressful events. Researchers have measured cortisol levels, the stress hormone, in participants’ blood after spending time gardening. The study showed that the hormone levels fell significantly compared to other ways of recuperating, showing the calming qualities of gardening.
It Enhances the Aesthetics of Your Home
It goes without saying that putting time and effort into the presentation of your garden will improve your home aesthetically. Whether you choose to add flowerbeds, vegetable patches, or even a patio or outdoor seating space, your home’s looks will benefit from having a well-maintained outdoor space.
However, decorative plants, shrubs, or trees are one of the best ways to improve your house’s exterior aesthetically. Additionally, you can easily personalise your space by choosing the flowers or plants you like the most. This will allow your personality to shine through in your garden’s design and make the area feel more like your own. You can find a range of plants to suit the style that you are looking for at plants2gardens.com.
It Benefits Physical Health
It has been suggested that working outdoors in the garden can offer various physical benefits as well as mental ones.
Some research has shown that gardening can help to protect your body against diseases. This is primarily due to the production of vitamin D through exposure to sunlight. This vitamin is essential for a vast number of bodily functions. For example, vitamin D plays a pivotal role in strengthening your immune system and your bones.
Gardening benefits your health in other ways, too, however. Working outdoors in the garden can boost your strength, improve your sleep, and help you maintain a healthy weight. Gardening is classed as a form of exercise, particularly when it involves raking, digging or chopping wood.
Overall, when you perform moderate to high-intensity tasks in the garden, you will likely be using every major muscle group in your body. Studies show that this exercise can help to mitigate weight gain, childhood obesity and builds healthier sleeping patterns.
This exercise can also positively impact your cognitive function, which may help to reduce age-related memory loss.
It Increases the Usable Space in Your Home
Another benefit to improving your home’s exterior is that it can drastically increase the spaciousness and usability of your home.
Investing some time and money in landscaping your garden allows you to think about how it is best used and what you value in your home. When you go to the trouble of working on your garden, you might decide to add a gazebo, a terrace, or an outdoor seating area. Essentially, if you do this, you can effectively gain a new room in your home.
Whether you decide to integrate an alfresco dining area, a shaded relaxation space, or an outdoor workspace, you can give yourself more usable room in your home.
Conclusion
In summary, gardening is one of the most beneficial activities you can do around the home. There are various upsides to improving your outdoor space, ranging from increasing your property’s value to improving your mental and physical wellbeing. So, whether you want to enhance the aesthetics of your house, want to eat more sustainably by growing your own produce, or want to reduce your susceptibility to disease, it is well worth working on your garden.