Gardening For Seniors: The Mental and Physical Benefits Plus Tips to Get Started

Picking up a gardneing hobby at any point of life can bring you a wealth of benefits both mental and physical! From physical activity to improving mental sharpness, the benefits of gardening can improve your life in multiple ways! Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of gardening and ways to make garnening work for you!

Mental Benefits of Gardening for Seniors

The mental benefits of garndening come from many different aspects of the hobby. Because gardnening is an outdoors hobby, an increase in your vitamin D from sunlight can result in an improved mood! The fresh air and time outdoors itself is also known to be a mood booster, espeically when you incorporate mindfulness- which means gardening with minimal distractions. Focusing on the sights, smells, and textures you experinece when gardening can help you to be present in the moment and cause other stressors of your life to melt away for the moment. Including fragrant flowers or herbs in your garden can even help to enhance this experience!

The process of planning and montioring the growth of your provides an excellent opportinity to engage your brain and even improve your overall cognitive funciton! There are many things to take into cosideration when you are planting your garden such as; lighting, soil quality, plant spacing, pest management. This makes choosing the perfect plants and creating the right environment for them to succeed quite the mental workout! Adding labels to your plants with both the English and Latin names can help you to challenge your brain even more.

Physical Benefits of Gardening for Seniors

Gardening is more than just a hobby- it is a physical activity! Some gardening activities such as digging and planting can really get your blood pumping, but even lower-impact tasks like weeding and watering have many physical benefits. These low-impact gardening tasks contribute to your overall physical health by helping you to maintain your range of motion and physicall coordination which can lower your overall risk of falls! Weeding, pruning, and planting seeds also helps to maintain your dexterity, joint funciton, and even decrease arthritis and joint pain. Are you reluctant to begin gardening because of physical limitations? Consider the adaptive tools mentioned in the next section!

Tips for Beginner Senior Gardners

-There are a few things to consider for seniors getting started in gardening.

• Firstly you will want to decide what you would like to plant in your garden! Are you interested in growing a food garden or plating an aesthetic garden? Consider low maintenance plants like lettuce or carrots if this will be your first time gardening.

• Next figure out where you would like your garden to be, taking into consideration the sunlight needs of the plants you will be planting. Consider using raised garden beds or containter gardening to get started! Raised garden beds and container gardening can be a great way to make gardening accessable if you are not able to dig your own garden in the ground.

• Plant your garden after the last spring frost date. This varies per region, but for Northern Indiana the last frost date is typically between May 1 - May 10. Be sure to use protective gear like gloves, sun protection, knee protection, and sturdy closed-toe shoes!

• Monitor your garden's growth! Tend to the weeds in the garden and monitor for pests. It is recommended to keep a garden log to track your sucesses and failures to look back on when planning next year's garden.

Final Thoughts

As spring sets in, consider taking up gardening or helping an aging loved one to plant a garden. A wealth of physical and mental benefits of gardening waiting for you!

If you or a loved one are interested in personal care please call Total at 219-937-2811!