Health & Wellness Magazine Community Of Caring - Summer 2019 | Page 24

HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE
Garden Your Way To A
Healthier Lifestyle
BY: MELINDA MYERS, AUTHOR & TV HOST
REDUCE YOUR stress, lower your
blood pressure, improve your mood,
and save some money while working
on your green thumb. Research shows
gardening can do all this and more.
Gardening can help you lose weight,
tone your muscles, and increase your
flexibility. Improve your fitness. Burn
calories and increase muscle tone and
flexibility. The Arthritis Foundation
encourages movement, and gardening
is one great way to stay active.
And don’t worry if your
skills and space are
limited. Everyone can
increase the beauty in
his or her environment,
whether just a balcony
or several acres, without
a big increase in
the budget.
Start small. This is especially true if you’re
new to gardening. It is better to build for
the future than become overwhelmed
and give up gardening. And seasoned
gardeners can look for new ways to
increase their satisfaction and fun.
Convert underutilized and overlooked
areas into beautiful spaces to be used as
small outdoor living spaces, entertainment
areas, or quiet getaways. Container gardens,
green walls, and window boxes add
planting space to once unplantable areas.
Brighten the indoors. Everyone, especially
someone with no access to the outdoors,
should consider windowsill gardens and
planters filled with herbs, greens, and
houseplants. Not only will they feed your
gardening desires and add life to your décor,
they’ll also help cleanse the air, removing
harmful, volatile organic compounds.
Share with a friend. Find friends and
family members that share your love for, or
budding interest in, gardening. Experienced
gardeners will swap advice and plants
while new gardeners can benefit from the
experience and new perspectives of others.
And since everyone has a busy schedule
these days, it’s a great way to combine a
friendly visit with improving your landscape.
Make it an event. A plant swap, weeding
round-robin, or garden tour makes
gardening fun and lightens everyone’s
workload as you help each other
with planning, planting, and weeding.
And be sure to include some light
refreshments, table decorations, and
recipes using your homegrown produce.
Include some herbs. Add flavor to your
meals and fun to your dining experience.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gardening expert, TV/radio host, and author Melinda Myers has written
over 20 gardening books, including Small Space Gardening and the
Midwest Gardener’s Handbook. She hosts The Great Courses' How
To Grow Anything DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s
Garden Moment TV and radio segments. Myers is also a columnist and
contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine.
MelindaMyers.com
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Have friends pluck fresh mint to flavor
their iced tea or mojito. And grow some
lovage. Its celery flavor and hollow
stem make this the perfect straw for
your tomato juice or Bloody Mary.
Grow some fruits and vegetables. Not
only can you save money on your
grocery bill but you can’t beat the flavor
or nutritional content of fresh-from-your-
garden produce. And you control the
chemicals, if any, used on your plants.
Mix it up a bit. Add flowers to your edible
containers to create an attractive display.
Add bulbs to your perennial plantings to
increase the flower power and reduce
your workload. The perennial foliage
will mask the unsightly fading leaves of
the bulbs. And don’t hesitate to include
a few annuals with your perennials.
They provide continuous bloom while
temporarily filling in space caused by new
plantings or voids in established gardens.
Make it convenient. If your garden tools
and gloves are handy, you are more likely
to take a few minutes to weed or deadhead
your garden. Spending 10 or 15 minutes
everyday in your garden not only keeps
it looking good but also improves your
mood and lowers your blood pressure.
And most importantly, relax
and have fun.