Did you know gardening therapy is good for your mental health? In this article, I’m sharing my gardening inspiration and 10 reasons how gardening can boost your mood!


How was your weekend? You may have noticed I haven’t been very active on the blog or Instagram the past week. I had to take a little time off for mental wellness and to care for the family.

During my break from the blog, I spent a lot of time working on our garden. It’s so surprising to me that I have taken up gardening because I was never really interested in it before.

I had thought about giving it a try, but I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe it wasn’t my time to try it then. I don’t know, but ever since we went to Eastern Market’s Flower Day, I have been hooked on finding gardening inspiration.

10 Reasons Gardening Therapy is Good for Your Mental Health
Thanks to our visit to Eastern Market’s Flower Day, I have found my love for gardening!

Every day I like to go outside to our garden and admire the beautiful flowers or water the plants.

I also can’t seem to stay away from the greenhouses. I’m always going to local greenhouses to buy more flowers and Home Depot for more garden supplies.

I told myself I need to slow down on the flower shopping and pace myself. It’s so hard, though!

If I could, I’d buy all of the flowers in the store. But that’s not possible. I can’t wait for us to get a house so we can create an even larger garden in our front and backyard!

Back in my happy place! I love visiting local flower nurseries.
I bought these pretty purple flowers for our front garden.

GARDENING IS VERY THERAPEUTIC

Travis and I both agree gardening has been very therapeutic for both of us. I’ve been searching for more natural remedies to help with my anxiety disorder and I am happy to say I am adding gardening to my list.

For the past two weeks, I have noticed a positive change in my mood. When I am gardening, I feel calmer and it also gives me time to think. Or not think at all.

Sometimes just falling into the rhythm of caring for the plants brings me a great sense of peace.

Do you feel this way, too, when you garden?

A few flowers we bought from Eastern Market Flower Day

The other day, Travis and I were working together in our flower garden and I asked him, “Why didn’t we start this years ago?”

He agreed with me that gardening therapy would have greatly benefited us in 2016. That was a very hard year for us because his mother had passed away in a very sudden and tragic way.

Then two months later, I suffered a miscarriage. This, of course, happened about three months before we became pregnant with Zephaniah (5th baby).

It was a very difficult time for us with his mother’s death and the miscarriage. Although we still held it together on the outside, on the inside we were both greatly hurting.

Without our even realizing it, we had fallen into a depression. It wasn’t until a few months after giving birth to Zephaniah that I realized from the summer of 2016 until probably December 2017, I was in a funk. I was depressed.

I bought a few “Georgia Peach Pie” flowers for our front porch. They are very tall and so pretty!

WHAT MADE ME REALIZED I WAS DEPRESSED

You know what made me realize I was depressed? Doing the laundry.

Just a simple, routine task made me realize I had been depressed for over a year.

One day, I was reorganizing our bedroom and clearing out a lot of clutter. I was in the basement loading the washer machine and I thought to myself, Wow! I have accomplished a lot of cleaning tasks.

I felt so refreshed because I had completed so much cleaning and organizing. I asked myself, Why does this feel so good? Just tackling several loads of laundry made me feel like a great weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

That’s when it hit me I had been depressed. This realization helped me put all of the pieces together. It explained why my energy had been low or why my anxiety was high. I just couldn’t believe I didn’t see it before.

Of course, Travis’ job loss in September 2017 didn’t help matters. That definitely hurt us emotionally, as well as financially. Yet, the experience has made us stronger individually and as a family. Engaging in positive activities and finding gardening inspiration helps both Travis and I find joy and peace in life.

10 Reasons Gardening Therapy is Good for Your Mental Health
Gardening can help those who have an anxiety disorder.

10 REASONS GARDENING THERAPY IS GOOD FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

Yesterday, I was researching horticultural therapy and I stumbled upon an article by Sarah Rayner (“Petal Power: Why Is Gardening So Good for Our Mental Health?”).

The article was featured in Psychology Today, and Rayner shared ten ways horticulture helps you heal, overcome anxiety, and lift your low mood.

1. You feel a sense of responsibility when you care for plants.

2. “Gardening allows us all to be nurturers.”

3. Gardening connects us to other living things. (This tip is one of my favorites. Sarah says gardening is a “gentle reminder to us that we are not the centre of the universe.”)

4. You can relax and let go when you are gardening. (Amen!)

5. “Working in nature releases happy hormones.”

6. “Being amongst plants and flowers reminds us to live in the present moment.” (YES!! Sarah says, “when we let go of ruminating on the past or worrying about the future and instead focus on the here and now, anxiety lessens.” I feel that!)

7. “Gardening reminds us of the cycle of life, and thus come to terms with that most universal of anxieties: death.” (This one is hard for me. I’m still working on it. I even find myself feeling sad when a plant is dying.)

8. “Some aspects of gardening allow us to vent anger and aggression.”

9. Gardening helps you gain a sense of control because anxiety makes you feel overwhelmed and as if you are losing control.

10. “Gardening is easy.” (In her article, Sarah says you don’t need a big garden to enjoy horticulture. “Just one hanging basket or few pots along a window ledge can lift the spirits whenever you look at them.”)


READ: THE “Petal Power: Why Is Gardening So Good for Our Mental Health?” ARTICLE BY SARAH RAYNER HERE.


I must say, I really connected with the points Sarah listed in her article. Do you feel the same way about gardening therapy? Which point really sticks out to you?

Finding a connection to other living things, feeling happiness, and living in the present moment are three points that have really resonated with me.

I am so grateful I picked up gardening as a new hobby. It is doing wonders for my anxiety. I’ll share photos of my garden once we have everything in order. I can’t wait to show you our beautiful flower garden!

I hope you have a blessed week!

Jennifer xoxo

Have you discovered gardening therapy? What are your thoughts on it?

Written by

Jennifer Hamra

Freelance creative Jennifer Hamra created her blog Good Life Detroit in 2015 after relocating from Tennessee to Southeast Michigan.

Inspired by her love for personal blogging and photography, Jennifer likes to share her favorite Detroit things, from cool places to visit (the hidden gems are her favorite!) to the amazing people she has connected with over the years.

When she's not busy juggling family life and her creative projects, you can find her at an art gallery, community event, farmers market, or spending quiet time at home with a good book and cup of tea.

Jennifer lives in the metro Detroit area with her husband Travis and their six children.

Connect with Jennifer on social media @goodlifedetroit on all social media platforms or via email at [email protected].