Your 317 Home Your 317 Home Magazine Spring 2018 | Page 18

GARDEN YOUR WAY TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE R WITH MELINDA MYERS educe your stress, lower your blood pressure, improve your mood and save 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 flexibility. Improve your fitness. Burn calories and increase muscle tone and flexibility. The arthritis foundation encourages movement and gardening is one great way. schedules it’s a great way to combine a 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 work load 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. And don’t worry if your skills and space are limited. Everyone can increase the beauty in their environment whether just a balcony or several acres, without a big increase in their budget. Include some herbs. Add flavor to your meals and fun to your dining experience. Have friends pluck fresh mint to flavor their ice tea or mojito. And grow some lovage. The celery flavor and hollow stems make this the perfect straw for your tomato juice or Bloody Mary. 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. 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 used on your plants. Convert underutilized and overlooked areas into beautiful spaces used as small outdoor living spaces, entertainment areas or a quiet getaway. Container gardens, green walls and window boxes add planting space to once unplantable areas. 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 by new plantings or voids in established gardens. Brighten the indoors. Everyone, especially those 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 others experience and new perspective. And with everyone’s busy 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 ten or fifteen minutes every day in your garden, not only keeps it looking good, it improves your mood and lowers your blood pressure. And most importantly, relax and have fun. For more gardening information visit www.melindamyers.com 18 Melinda Myers has written over twenty gardening books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses How to Grow Anything DVD Series, including Food Gardening For Everyone (thegreatcourses.com/ courses/how-to-grow-anything- food-gardening-for-everyone.html), and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment TV and radio program. Melinda is also a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms Magazine. Visit melindamyers. com for more of her tips on gardening and landscaping.