A garden refers to a well-planned outdoor space that people cultivate and plant trees, flowers, fruits, and vegetables. A garden includes both natural and artificial materials to prepare the ground for cultivation. For a garden to be referred to as a garden, it consists of soil, sunlight, water, fertilizer and the vegetation one wants to plant. A gardener needs to identify the type of land within his or her plot. Knowledge of the kind of soil is essential in determining the best soil to retain water and nutrients. Knowing the type of soil also helps the gardener plan for the right planting strategies as well as devising ways of overcoming your soil limitations. Plants need Sunlight to germinate. It is essential for a gardener to understand the sunlight needs of the plants in their garden. Some plants thrive well outside with full sunlight, some with partial sun; others do well in full shade with minimal sunlight while other requires complete darkness with no sun to grow.
Water is another essential component in gardening and more sore germination of vegetation. Plants need water to grow unless they are adapted to produce in dry areas. Depending on the climate and season, plants may need extra watering activities while some may thrive with the water present in the soil. However, there is a need for a gardener to keep in mind irrigation activities to prevent the plants from withering and drying up. Fertilization is another necessity for plant growth. The soil has its fertility content. However, in some aspects, the soil’s fertility becomes lower than the required level and needs a boost. Gardeners use artificial fertilizer or homemade manure to boost the soil’s fertility and enable the plants to thrive. The type of vegetation planted can be annuals that grow in one season within a given climate with short-term performance and care or perennials that need long-term care. Gardening is more of an art than it is a science. Plants are unique and require different needs. It is essential for gardeners to master the art of gardening before one venture into the process.
People garden for various reasons. The reason behind individual gardening determines the type of plants or vegetation they include in their gardens. Some choose to garden while others feel there is a need to garden. As gardening changes and evolves, so do the reasons behind people gardening. People who plant flowers and trees often garden for purposes such as offering their bodies and mind a relaxation feel the ng or creating beauty around the house for pleasure and satisfaction. Others who plant fruits and vegetables do that for gaining economic benefits, seeking comfort, passing the time or engaging their bodies in physical exercise. Other people garden because they want to attract some wildlife or animals within their homestead.
In the economic aspect of gardening, a family or an individual may decide to venture into growing as a source of food for home-based consumption or commercial use. Instead of going to the groceries to buy vegetables, fruits, and even corn, people decide to plant the groceries in their garden and pick them from there when they want to use them. Such gardening saves the family or individual in various ways. First, one keeps a significant amount of money spent on going to buy produce from the farmer’s market and grocery stores. Going to the farmers, the market requires constant trips, which consume time and money on fuel or public transport (Galhena, 111). Sometimes buyers may not find what they are looking for in the market, which becomes a waste of time and resources. Therefore, they save the money spent on groceries including the transportation back and forth the market.
A garden owner can choose to generate income from the garden from his or her farm. They can decide to sell the product within the neighborhoods and get an extra coin. Some garden and take them to stores to keep produce in circulation and available at all times. Through the sale, however minimal, it saves the household some income to boost their economic welfare and to improve their livelihoods (Patel, 8). They also protect the extra money for future use. The additional source of income provides enough finances for other family needs. Thus, it promotes the spirit of entrepreneurship as a method of individuals earning a living. Additionally, home gardening offers a shorter chain of commodities by getting rid of the retailer and dealing directly with the manufacturer (Galhena, 112). Through that, it does away with the cost spent on the packaging of the produce, preservation of products to keep them fresh, which reduces the extra money incurred on purchases.
Some individual engages in gardening for medicinal purposes. Home gardening gives the gardener the opportunity to plant whatever vegetation they seem fit including herbs. Some plants in home gardens contain the therapeutic value to the human body. Such plants prove essential in treating many common health issues. Homemade treatment saves on the money that otherwise used to seek medical attention in health facilities. It makes treatment cost-effective. Additionally, home gardening provides fresh and adequate nutrients to the body (Soga, 95). Food insecurity creates hardships that drive people into consuming less food while settling for meals with low nutritional value. With economic challenges, necessary nutrients become inadequate leading to lifestyle deficiency diseases due to insufficient vitamins and minerals. Home gardening ensures a constant year-round production of vegetation and fruits. Natural plants from the garden improve the diet since the individual get a chance to eat a variety of vegetables and fruits. The food from one’s garden is always fresh and with a better taste.
Other people choose to engage in gardening for physical activity or to exercise their bodies. Gardening often happens outside the house or in the backyard. Individuals who apply gardening get a chance to breathe fresh air even as they see their garden change throughout the seasons. The air around plants become fresher compared to the one inside the house. The exposure to fresh air and sunlight aids in the production of Vitamin D essential to the body. Gardening requires the gardener to engage with different tools such as a trowel, shovel, and spade. Cultivation employs the various body parts in a physical activity making the body stronger and healthier. While in the garden people mow, dig and moving heavy substances around, and in the end, they burn some calories (Kidd, 639). The activity becomes enjoyable since the gardener does two businesses at the same time; planting vegetation and physical exercise at the same time. It is a utility hobby that stimulates the body into physical activity and in the end, boosts the body’s wellness. The physical activity encourages both the children and adults mental level.
Another reason we garden is for relieving stress. Having flowers within the compound creates beautiful scenery. Flowers rich in color with different enchanting smells provide an escape strategy for one from their troubles and responsibilities. The sweet fragrance from flowers produces a calming effect to the mind while making people feel like they have escaped the stress brought about by people or the harsh world around them (Van Den Berg, 9). While in the garden, one focuses on the beauty of the garden. Feeling the texture of the soil allows the body stimulates the senses and helps the mind to focus on the present life. Natural beauty takes worries out of the brain while offering the body satisfaction. It helps our minds handle low esteem and depression. The gardening process from digging, sowing and even pruning is therapeutic. It boasts one’s appreciation and builds an individual’s self-worth by making one understand they are part of something more significant such as nature and the life cycle. Such a feeling provides peace of mind.
Another reason people garden is creating a sanctuary for various living things. People nurture plants and even animals in their backyards. Some design their gardens with meditative spaces for quiet contemplation (McHugh " Gina, 56). Individuals create the garden in a personal way after considering the natural features they need in their sanctuary. While creating gardens as sanctuaries, the gardener finds the space, the lines and even the scale in ensuring they all create harmony and the desired texture. The desired effect is achieving emotional needs while being a source of strength for the individual. People design them in a way that the garden provides renewal, joy, peace, contemplation and in the end appreciate nature. Creating a sanctuary supports regeneration from the hectic world. The garden elements may include various components such as pools, fountains of water that provide bubbling sounds. The sound of water and the voice from the songs of birds offer solace to the mind.
Additionally, people use gardening as a way to pass the time when they have no other work to do. Some people schedule various gardening activities to push time especially when they have less to do. Some activities include pruning shrubs in the garden. Pruning gives the plants an opening to grow health by creating free space for them. Some choose to build their compost manure as they prepare to add more homemade fertilizer for their gardens. Getting the vegetable garden in place ensures there is a constant supply of vegetables for family and friends throughout the seasons. Finally doing clean up in the garden also adds to beauty in the yard and creates ultimate satisfaction. All these activities help pass the time (Pettigrew " Michele, 303). Gardening being an art helps the individual get the garden in order while at the same time moving some quality time. It is a happy and relaxing hobby to pass the time. For instance, winter months are often long, and people choose to engage in gardening to push time.
An additional reason behind people gardening is for beauty reasons. People choose to garden as a strategy to create beauty around their compound and enjoy the magnificence added to nature. In incorporating beauty in the garden, people use pots to plant flowers or plants around the compound or develop flowerbeds round their houses. With herbs with different colors and trees of different shapes, the gardener creates diversity in the design combination. The various flowers produce a difference of fragrance, different flavors. The difference attracts insects and birds to the plants that provide a variety of textures in the garden. People who have beautiful gardens in their homesteads use various ways to keep it attractive and catchy to anyone’s eye (Alaimo et al., 501). People create spaces that beautiful and visually stand out. Secondly, they add flowers and flowering plants. They also control weeds to maintain the beauty and ensure the plants grow healthy. People even choose to group plants around a specific theme or create edges around them.
Additionally, people garden as a way to commune with nature. While in the garden, people interact with birds, the bees, butterflies and even insects around that delights them (Johnson, 200). Through communing, many gain satisfaction also as they watch nature and interact with other created things. The interaction one gets to see whatever they planted take off, be it food or ornamental. When communing with nature people give up their heart and energy to the creation and in return, they get a strong sense of humor and appreciation. It gives one a reason to be a co-creator with nature while experiencing the world. Plants express about nature and people respond to nature’s messages by appreciating the smell, color, and beauty. The individuals focus on nature and feel the calm and rest. Through dedication and focus to creation, the connection to nature deepens.
However, gardening is not an easy task. It comes with its challenges. In the current generation when people have focused on technology and innovations, the center is on office duties more than saving time to attend to our micro-pieces of land. The sacrifice required and the type of labor to ensure that crops survive in restrained areas calls for passion to garden rather than from push by situations. Michael Pollan describes cultivation as being in war. Gardeners battle with pests that destroy the flowers, eat up the plants or cut the seedling down. The process becomes tiresome. However, there are various ways to curb crop pests including fencing the garden, using pesticides, preventing the encroachment of bushes into the compound.
In conclusion, a garden includes both natural and artificial materials to prepare the ground for cultivation. For a garden to be referred to as a garden, it consists of soil, sunlight, water, fertilizer and the vegetation one wants to plant. Instead of going to the groceries to buy vegetables, fruits, and even corn, people decide to plant the groceries in their garden and pick them from there when they want to use them. Additionally, home gardening offers a shorter chain of commodities by getting rid of the retailer and dealing directly with the manufacturer. Cultivation employs the various body parts in a physical activity making the body stronger and healthier. While in the garden people mow, dig and moving heavy substances around, and in the end, they burn some calories. In incorporating beauty in the garden, people use pots to plant flowers or plants around the compound or develop flowerbeds round their houses.
Annotated Bibliography
Alaimo, Katherine, Thomas M. Reischl, and Julie Ober Allen. "Community gardening, neighborhood meetings, and social capital." Journal of community psychology 38.4 (2010): 497-514.
The publication examines community gardening as a form of gardening that incorporates the society with individuals coming together for the same purpose. The source is important in highlighting some of the prospects for cultivation.
Clayton, Susan. "Domesticated nature: Motivations for gardening and perceptions of environmental impact." Journal of environmental psychology 27.3 (2007): 215-224
Clayton’s article reflects on the motivations for people to move out and garden. The article is a great inspiration to those who intend to have a home or other forms of gardens.
Galena, Dilrukshi Hashini, Russell Freed, and Karim M. Maredia. "Home gardens: a promising approach to enhance household food security and wellbeing." Agriculture " Food Security 2.1 (2013): 8.
The article looks at the new approach for home gardens and how it has the prospects of saving the food shortage situations. It is a good read for the importance of gardening.
Johnson, Wendy. Gardening at the dragon's gate: at work in the wild and cultivated world. New York, NY, USA: Bantam Books, 2008.
The book is a case study of gardening at the dragon’s gate. It provides a sequence of the operations involved in gardening.
Kidd, J. L., and W. Brascamp. "Benefits of gardening to the well-being of New Zealand gardeners." XXVI International Horticultural Congress: Expanding Roles for Horticulture in Improving Human Well-Being and Life Quality 639. 2002.
Kidd and Brascamp in this edition provide the benefits of gardening as from the case study of New Zealand. It is a proof of how gardening can be beneficial to humanity.
McHugh, Anna, and Gina Ord. "Therapeutic gardening." (2018).
Patel, Ishwarbhai C. "Gardening’s socioeconomic impacts." Journal of Extension 29.4 (1991): 7- 8.
There are social, economic impacts that result from gardening whether on a small scale or large scale. The book explains such has implications while looking at some case scenarios.
Pettigrew, Simone, and Michele Roberts. "Addressing loneliness in later life." Aging and Mental Health 12.3 (2008): 302-309.
Gardening can help one man his/her lonely life. While some people have nothing to do rather than remain indoors and watch TV, on can assume the duty to garden as the above title explains.
Soga, Masashi, Kevin J. Gaston, and Yuichi Yamaura. "Gardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis." Preventive medicine reports 5 (2017): 92-99.
The article explains the health benefits of gardening while centering on the health impacts of foods from plants.
Van Den Berg, Agnes E., and Mariëtte HG Custers. "Gardening promotes neuroendocrine and effective restoration from stress." Journal of health psychology 16.1 (2011): 3-11.
The article looks at some of the impacts of gardening, and as stated in the title, it explains how gardening helps to promote neuroendocrine and restoring stress. The article reflects on growing as a form of therapy.
Works cited
Alaimo, Katherine, Thomas M. Reischl, and Julie Ober Allen. "Community gardening, neighborhood meetings, and social capital." Journal of community psychology 38.4 (2010): 497-514.
Clayton, Susan. "Domesticated nature: Motivations for gardening and perceptions of environmental impact." Journal of environmental psychology 27.3 (2007): 215-224
Galena, Dilrukshi Hashini, Russell Freed, and Karim M. Maredia. "Home gardens: a promising approach to enhance household food security and wellbeing." Agriculture " Food Security 2.1 (2013): 8.
Johnson, Wendy. Gardening at the dragon's gate: at work in the wild and cultivated world. New York, NY, USA: Bantam Books, 2008.
Kidd, J. L., and W. Brascamp. "Benefits of gardening to the well-being of New Zealand gardeners." XXVI International Horticultural Congress: Expanding Roles for Horticulture in Improving Human Well-Being and Life Quality 639. 2002.
McHugh, Anna, and Gina Ord. "Therapeutic gardening." (2018).
Patel, Ishwarbhai C. "Gardening’s socioeconomic impacts." Journal of Extension 29.4 (1991): 7- 8.
Soga, Masashi, Kevin J. Gaston, and Yuichi Yamaura. "Gardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis." Preventive medicine reports 5 (2017): 92-99.
Pettigrew, Simone, and Michele Roberts. "Addressing loneliness in later life." Aging and Mental Health 12.3 (2008): 302-309.
Van Den Berg, Agnes E., and Mariëtte HG Custers. "Gardening promotes neuroendocrine and effective restoration from stress." Journal of health psychology 16.1 (2011): 3-11.
