Finally, the season of lush vegetation and blooming flowers has arrived, signaling that we can immerse ourselves in the green life, not in the sense of the postmodern Gaia worshipers, but by engaging in ancient and eternal gardening activities, connecting with the natural world and creating our own gardening designs.
The benefits of gardening are immeasurable. Many of us live in high-rise buildings, some without even a balcony, thus becoming disconnected from the earth. If you haven’t realized the benefits of gardening yet, let’s explore a few examples.
Firstly, from a practical standpoint, the benefits of getting your hands dirty planting flowers and herbs are inherently attractive. Buy a bunch of flower-bed plants or, even better, buy seeds and start getting your hands dirty.
Seeds are still relatively cheap, but it’s not just about saving money. Any gardener will tell you that this enthusiasm quickly transforms into increasingly ambitious activities, which, in turn, can escalate costs. Nonetheless, some produce, such as tomatoes, fruit trees, or bush fruits, grown at home surpass those in stores by far. Who can put a price on a fully ripe tomato or strawberries straight from the garden? And what can be more aromatic than freshly picked herbs?
There is also a little gardening secret (don’t tell your spouse): the best produce never even gets a chance to make it inside the house; it’s gobbled up greedily right off the vine. If you master the art of preserving, blanching, and freezing, your summer harvest will see you through the cold winter months.
Furthermore, there is the enjoyment of ornamental flowers, shrubs, and trees.
Whether you prefer the neat arrangements of annuals and pruned woody plants in a French garden or the more natural and flowing English-style, the potential of gardening depends on how much effort you are willing to put in. Whether it’s the smallest hanging basket or your own elaborate garden design, the joy remains the same.
Your green space will also present challenges.
Designing itself is a talent or a mission, with much to learn. What is the soil like on your site? Should the soil be improved or should the pH be altered? How is the drainage system, and most importantly, how strong and long-lasting is the sunlight? All these questions and more need to be addressed before or during the planning of an eye-catching design.
You’ll need to select plants based on factors such as height, coverage, flowering times and colors, shade tolerance, among others. Once all these are in place, you can design your space, gradually increasing plant height for visual interest, creating layers of color and texture. If chosen correctly, there will always be plants blooming and emanating fragrance throughout the season. Some plants, especially shrubs and trees with unique bark color or texture, or captivating shapes, remain charming throughout the entire winter.
Combining all these elements, you’ll find that your garden or green space will reward you in various tangible ways, especially in terms of physical and psychological benefits. Gardening is an activity that can be adjusted based on your age and ability. It is said that even simple soil digging can elevate happiness, and just two and a half hours of hard work per week can greatly improve health.
Moreover, a fact is, gardening won’t leave you exhausted or mentally drained but will make you stronger. It allows us to experience the lives of our ancestors who, in harsh climates, often barely maintained a livelihood on barren lands.
These realities deepen our understanding of the lives of farmers: the hopeful spring that can turn into a damp or dry summer, all the hard work turning into nothing; a beautiful harvest that can be destroyed by early frost or hail; or everything carefully grown ruined by pests and insects, distorting the once-perfect garden.
For instance, small critters like field mice are both cunning and can wreak havoc, problems like these sometimes require divine intervention for solutions. Similarly, any charm and cuteness associated with rabbits or raccoons vanish instantly when they swiftly destroy the summer’s labor.
Therefore, I personally thank the inventor of the .22 caliber bullets, especially the birdshot inventor. Unless you believe in the ecological niche of tent caterpillars, improvements in insecticides and herbicides are also highly welcomed.
What hobby can naturally enrich and educate the heart like gardening does? It satisfies both the physical and spiritual needs while providing perhaps a bit too many life lessons. (Darn field mice!)
Of course, if one spring or summer, nature, with its capricious nature and greedy animals, conspires against you, there is always the farmers’ market to rely on.