Helping Your Older Loved One Continue to Receive the Benefits of Gardening
Now that the growing season is here many people are enjoying time outdoors tending to their summer garden. Eating homegrown food offers a myriad of benefits but did you know there are even more health benefits with growing food (or flowers!)? These benefits of gardening remain at any age so here are a few ways to help your loved one continue reaping them throughout life.
Proven Benefits of Gardening
The older a person grows, the harder it can be to till and cultivate large swathes of land. Fortunately, the good derived from gardening is not only attached to major undertakings. Even if your loved one can no longer plant row upon row of flowers or vegetables, they can still glean plenty of the perks related to gardening by making some simple adjustments.
Gardening has been shown to help people lower tension and increase muscle tone. Handling plants and garden tools helps maintain mobility and fine motor skills. It can even ward off depression. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that just two and a half hours per week spent gardening can yield all of these benefits.
Helping to Keep Gardening Alive
Although your older loved one may be past their years of acre-sized gardens, they can still continue gardening. Look for ways to make gardening user-friendly and enjoy the happy results. Here are three simple ways to keep gardening alive for your loved one.
1. Raised beds
If you buy or build raised beds for your loved one, you can eliminate many of the obstacles to gardening in later years. Raised beds should be a comfortable height to reduce the need for bending. Keep the beds narrow enough that they can reach entirely across or at least reach to the center of the bed from either side. This makes weeding, pruning, watering and harvesting a pain-free affair.
2. Containers
If raised beds are not a workable option, why not do some container gardening? Purchase large pots and then put them on rollers so that your loved one can easily move them from one location to another (in or out of sun, nearer to water source etc.). Large containers will offer the great benefit of allowing them to work with plants while they are seated. Hay-bale gardening is another option well-suited to older gardeners since it requires practically only a hose and patience.
3. Trellises
Another way to make sure your loved one can continue gleaning the benefits of gardening is to place trellises near at hand. Vining plants do very well twining up along a scaffold and that means they can be attended with virtually no bending or reaching. Green beans, cucumbers, peas and squash all do well growing upwards rather than creeping along the ground.
Lastly, provide your loved one with lovely garden markers from Kincaid Plant Markers. Our attractive labels will be the final touch that makes raised bed, container or trellis gardening a true pursuit. We offer our markers in various sizes and price points. Check out our site and order yours today so your loved one can reap gardening’s benefits for years to come.
