One of my New Year’s resolutions this year was to work more in my garden. I had several reasons for this, some of them purely practical.
I was traveling for work for most of April and October last year, two of the months I normally spend the most time in the garden, as I’m waking it up in the spring and getting ready for winter in the autumn. As a result, I fell behind on some tasks and am paying the price now, particularly with an invasion of grass into one of my flower beds that’s going to be a bit of a project to get back out.
In order to prevent this happening again, I want to improve the edging of the bed in question, and several others. I already loaded my poor car down with about 600 pounds of edging bricks a few weeks again and spent an afternoon cleaning up and re-edging my front garden. I’m hoping to tackle the side garden, which is the one with the worst grass invasion, in the next few weeks before it gets too hot.
My biggest motivation for gardening more this year, however, is because I want to take better care of myself, mentally and physically, and gardening is something that brings me a lot of joy.
As someone who spends too much of my life glued to a computer for both work and entertainment, the importance of making time to, literally, touch grass has been incredibly clear to me for many years. Online, it’s so easy to get overwhelmed by the onslaught of bad news from around the world and the pettier annoyances of bad takes and people being Wrong On the Internet.
Outside in the garden, it’s easy to fall into what my husband and I have long called “Zen Mode” – the state of flow where one is completely absorbed in the present moment and focused on the task at hand. Personally, I reach Zen Mode most easily while doing physical activities (hiking is the other activity where I most frequently reach it) and have always been hopeless at still meditation. Reaching flow state in the garden is both peaceful and satisfying, because I can set aside anxiety, stress, and overthinking and simply be, while doing something that will also give me a sense of accomplishment and pride when I finish. It’s a double boost for my mental well-being.
Gardening is also a way to make a small but meaningful positive difference in the world. Although I have some fruit trees and raspberry bushes, and usually plant some tomatoes and fresh herbs to grow fresh, healthy, and local food for my family, I am most fond of flower gardening. I make a point of choosing flowers that benefit pollinators, birds, and other wildlife, including many native plants.
One of the most inspiring ideas I’ve heard in recent years is entomologist Douglas Tallamy’s call for a “Homegrown National Park“. The idea is that America’s national parks, despite their tremendously important role in conservation, are too disconnected and not sufficient by themselves to preserve biodiversity. As of 2005, there were about 40 million acres of turf grass in the USA, grown for lawns and golf courses, among other purposes. Tallamy proposes that if Americans could convert 20 million of those acres to gardens full of native plants, we would have an area ten times the size of Yellowstone National Park providing habitat for wildlife and creating safe pathways and connections between official conservation areas. When I garden with this goal in mind, every native bumblebee, butterfly, or bird I see in my garden is a sign that I’m doing something right and making a positive difference for local wildlife.
All this isn’t even touching on gardening’s other proven benefits for mental health and well-being, such as exercise endorphins and nature therapy. The joy and sense of satisfaction and achievement I feel while gardening makes it one of the best tools in my arsenal of self-care techniques.
