Try Gardening to Get These 8 Benefits

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Everyone needs a patch of green. Whether you're in the city or looking to live in a house and lot for sale in Laguna, you must get your hands busy. Once in a while, you should spend time on your porch or backyard. If these aren't available, you can make an indoor garden or grow a few seedlings on hanging pots. The possibilities are endless.

There are different things you can grow. If you have space, you should try growing some produce. You can save on grocery shopping when you don't have to purchase your fruits or vegetables. Other than crops, you can also tend flowers. Get some seeds of your favorite herbs and watch them bloom. But if you don't have the patience and the skill to grow greens, then you should turn to succulents and ferns. These plants don't require a lot of tending. They only need water now and then.

These are some garden ideas you can try in your new home. But, why should you try gardening? Would you get something out of it besides free food? Unknown to a lot of people, cultivating plants and spending time with soil has a lot of benefits. Below is the list of benefits you get when you immerse in gardening.

1. It relieves stress

Most of the time, gardening requires you to be outdoors. Even succulents need sun exposure now and then. The fresh air and sunlight can uplift your spirit. Meanwhile, moving back and forth will make you sweat. Sweating can lessen the levels of your cortisol which is also the stress hormone. Low levels of cortisol support your immune system, boosts your memory, and minimizes your risk of heart disease. Meanwhile, constant movement prevents you from getting obese.

2. It makes you confident

Gardening also makes you sure about yourself. You can feel a sense of pride and achievement when you see the seeds transforming from a tiny plant into a fruit-bearing tree.

3. It connects you to other people

You should consider gardening to your list of interests. It doesn't only give you a chance to be outdoors. It also offers you a chance to get to know other people in your community. It's a chance for you to be part of a group of people who are into the same things as you are. You can talk about your plants, how you grow them, and the different methods of propagating plants. You can get advice from seasoned growers on herbs, flowers, and vegetables. In exchange, you can offer a few nuggets you learned along the way.

4. It gives you a break from being indoors

Some plants need water twice a day. Thus, you need to be out of your couch if you want your plants to survive. When you have plants, you don't have to stay all day indoors. You need to go out. You must bring in your succulents after an hour, or they'll wilt under the sun. You have to check if the fruit is ripe and ready for harvest. In short, it keeps you busy. Time in front of the TV is now a luxury.

5. It imparts values to your children

If you want the kids to get their eyes off screens and devices, you should make gardening part of their lives. You children can learn several values when they learn how to tend to your backyard greens. For one, they will learn to be patient. They will realize that growing plants don't happen in an instant. At the same time, they get to appreciate the value of hard work. Plants don't thrive by themselves. They need a few things to survive which they won't get by themselves. 

Lastly, it will teach them things about nature and wildlife. It will show them where food comes from and how it grows. It can influence them to pick healthy, fresh food over processed ones. Most of all, it can help understand the limitations of natural resources.

6. It's your ticket to Vitamin D

Being outdoors exposes you to sunlight. You can feel the sun on your skin and enable it to absorb as many nutrients as it can get. Gardening pushes you to soak up Vitamin D which helps the body break down calcium to make the bones strong.

7. It's a form of exercise

Gardening will make you bend, lift, stretch, and twist. These movements all warm up and work the small muscles in your body. All of these can improve your strength, stamina, and flexibility.

8. It positively impacts the environment

Even if you're starting out with a plant or two, these have a positive impact to the Earth. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and other toxins in the air. When you raise a garden, you are combating air pollutants. You are also making use of run-off rainwater. Your plants can absorb the harmful pollutants to prevent them from reaching lakes and other bodies of water.


You won't miss out on these benefits when you consider growing a garden. You won't only see your plants thrive, but you can also watch them positively impact your life and the community.

Maximize Your Condo's Balcony For the Ultimate Green Experience

Whenever you see a sign saying ‘DMCI condo for sale,’ what comes to your mind first? Do you often think of a cramped place with nowhere to put your favorite plant in? Not so, because condominiums have terraces suitable for a mini vegetable garden. You never had to sacrifice a green experience with these simple tips.

Containers

Container gardening is the most popular terrace garden. Of course, you will need a container or two depending on how wide your balcony is. Wooden boxes, plastic buckets and clay pots are just some of your choices. You should only use high-quality containers with 8 inches depth and 6 inches diameter dimensions. Match the container size to the available space.

Any plant that can be easily transplanted is great. Optionally, germinating seed indoors like the way you would with backyard growing is possible. When the vegetable plants are ready, just transplant them to the container.

Varieties

Almost all vegetable plants that can be planted on a backyard can be also planted on your condo’s terrace. Vegetables such as eggplant, tomato, parsley, green onion, lettuce, cucumber and herbs can thrive on containers given the right conditions.

If you are planning to plant beans, squash or tomato, you should use wooden tubs or bushel baskets. These are better gardening supplies for bigger plants.  

Soils

When planting on container gardens, you might as well use synthetic soils as growing mediums. They are the best for container plants as they are made of peat moss, sawdust, wood chips, perlite, vermiculite and other such planting media. The goal is having a lightweight, loose mixture of soil media so the roots of your vegetables will get the right water and air balance.

The rule of thumb is one part soil, one part gravel and one part moistened peat moss. If you are going to buy packaged soil from your local gardening centers, they usually contain more peat so you may only need to add coarse gravel or vermiculite. Compost may be also added for extra nutrients for the plants.

Drainage

Container gardens need adequate drainage. Put drainage holes on the container, if they don’t have any. Before putting the soil though, you may fill the bottom with coarse gravel to improve drainage for your vegetable plants. Line the pot bottoms with newspaper.

Water

Do not forget to water your vegetables once the container garden is settled on the balcony. Watering is the biggest concern when maintaining the container garden. Containers dry out pretty quickly. Watering once a day every day though is enough. Water thoroughly without disturbing surface roots. You may also add water-absorbing polymers, so you need not water more frequently especially if you have bigger vegetable plants.

When it rains, and your veranda has no roof, there is no need to water them. Even when your balcony has roof above, make sure that direct sunlight is abundant. You may move the container around the balcony if you have to. Porous containers such as wood or clay will need more water compared to metal and plastic.

You may also add water-soluble fertilizers. Don’t over-fertilize the plants, however. Nitrogen fertilizers are highly suitable for green, leafy vegetables. For fruits and flowering plants, phosphorous fertilizer is more suitable.

Yield

The balcony garden may eventually yield a good amount of veggies on condition that they are getting plenty of sunlight and water. Vegetables grow best when in full sunlight. Make sure that the plants receive at least 4 hours of direct sunlight. Fruiting vegetables need more, say 10 hours a day. You may just follow the sunlight path around.

You’d know the plants are ready for harvesting. However, harvest them when they at their peak of ripeness for the best tasting veggies.

Nowadays, more and more people are moving into condominiums. If you think condos lack the land for gardening, think again. Terraces, aside from rooftops, can be converted into a vegetable garden. Growing veggies on your balcony is not difficult at all. In fact, this is one of the easiest ways to green your condo. Simply follow the simple soil and container rules noted above for a flourishing balcony vegetable garden. 

C’mon and unleash the urban gardener in you!