{"id":11618,"date":"2020-04-21T04:39:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T18:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardens.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/?p=11618"},"modified":"2023-08-07T00:04:33","modified_gmt":"2023-08-06T14:04:33","slug":"gardening-to-relieve-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/2020\/04\/21\/gardening-to-relieve-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"Gardening to Relieve Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Gardening
Things have changed now \u2013 for all of us. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Up until a few weeks ago, you would never have paused to\nconsider the existential threat posed by a door knob. You touched railings,\nelevator buttons, and your face with abandon, and the only worry you had about\npublic transport was the crush of the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things have changed now \u2013 for all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stress and anxiety are outpacing the virus.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The change is necessary, and some stress and anxiety are to\nbe expected. But something else is happening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many ways, coronavirus anxiety has outpaced the virus itself. People have emptied convenience-store shelves of hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, and surgical masks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

People worry themselves miserable, locked away in their homes, wondering whether each cough, each sniffle is the dreaded harbinger. For many, there isn\u2019t much else left to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is now really a good time to garden?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is. Gardening won\u2019t address all our problems, but working with plants is a well-known stress reliever. Scientists have undertaken countless studies on the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, in 2011, Neuroscience Journal described research showing that a beneficial bacterium common in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, triggers the release of serotonin in the human body. The serotonin elevates mood and decreases anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact is that the world of gardening offers something for everyone – especially now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some suggestions that might help you enjoy its stress-relieving benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Work on houseplants. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Take this free time to work on your houseplants. They might need re-potting or trimming. Remove yellow or brown leaves and debris from the soil. You should add a little fresh soil after cultivating hard-packed soil with a table fork, says Jessica Walliser for Tribe Live<\/em>. You could even start new houseplants by rooting cuttings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Take
Take this free time to work on your houseplants. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Grow your own food.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now is the perfect time to grow your own food. If you live in a region that experiences some spring frost, plant seeds of peas, lettuce, carrots, beets, spinach, radish, and chard outdoors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the exception of peas, all of these plants do well when planted in containers or in the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Now
Now is the perfect time to grow your own food. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3. Start seeds indoors.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For many, it\u2019s still a few weeks too early to start tomato\nseeds indoors. But you can certainly start cold-season crops like cabbage,\nbroccoli, lettuce, and kale. Grow them indoors for 3 to 4 weeks then transplant\nthem out into the garden for a homegrown harvest by early summer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"You
You can start seeds indoors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Prepare your containers.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Take all your pots out of storage and scrub them with a 10 percent bleach solution to kill any lingering fungal diseases from last season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put your containers out where you plan to locate them. If it\u2019s still too cold out, they\u2019ll at least be ready for planting in a few weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Put
Put your containers out where you plan to locate them. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

5. Start pruning shrubs.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have shrubs in your yard, you can start pruning them before they show signs of new growth. Shrubs can be shaped by selectively shortening branches with hand shears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can rejuvenate overgrown shrubs like lilac, spirea, dogwood, and potentilla by cutting back to 6 inches above ground level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"If
If you have shrubs in your yard, you can start pruning them before they show signs of new growth. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

6. Prune your roses. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you grow roses<\/a> in your backyard, head out to the garden and trim off any dead stems, overgrown canes, and crossing branches. Roses benefit from a good spring pruning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A well-pruned rosebush allows room for new growth. Pruning also improves air circulation and helps plants fight disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A well-pruned rosebush allows room for new growth. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gardening to Relieve Stress and Anxiety<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re in the midst of a global pandemic<\/a>. Cities – and even entire countries \u2013 are shutting down. Some of us are in areas that have already seen cases of rising coronavirus infections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others are anticipating the worst. And all of us are\nwatching the headlines, wondering, \u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen next?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many people, the uncertainty surrounding the crisis is the hardest thing to handle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"For
For many people, the uncertainty surrounding the crisis is the hardest thing to handle. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t know how exactly the virus will affect all our lives. That makes it all too easy for anxiety to spiral into overwhelming dread and panic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are many things you can do – even in the face of\nthis horrific crisis – to manage your anxiety and fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the pandemic swept into our lives, most of us didn\u2019t have time to just sit and enjoy our gardens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We say now is the perfect time to relax in the yard, watch, listen, and appreciate the beauty of the green world in which we live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you have the time you always wished you had to enjoy nature. It\u2019ll be good for you to lay down some roots. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gardening won\u2019t address all our problems, but working with plants is a well-known stress reliever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13557,"featured_media":11628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"Gardening to Relieve Stress","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sma_last_campaign_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,274,11,155,24],"tags":[342,341,51,50],"class_list":["post-11618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colourful-gardens","category-flowers","category-herb-gardens","category-indoor-gardens","category-vegetables","tag-anxiety","tag-coronavirus","tag-gardening","tag-gardens"],"modified_by":"Freddie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}