Landscaping for Mental Health: How Nature Can Improve Well-Being

You might be surprised to learn that there are plenty of health benefits to gardening and landscaping. There’s a reason that a well-maintained landscape makes people feel better than a messy or unkempt one. Humans have been gardening for thousands of years. Of course, the purpose of gardening at first was simply practical. People planted seeds to grow food. Over time, though, gardening has become a way to express artistic taste. Many people take it up as a hobby to make their yard look better. Humans generally tend to thrive in places that appear attractive and orderly. That’s why the entire art of landscaping has come to exist. 

Research supports the idea that nature exposure can improve your mental well-being. Gardens allow people to relax and focus in addition to providing us with food. Plus, gardens and other verdant spaces let us connect with nature. This is especially important if you live in an urban area with little access to it. All of these things can help improve the state of your psyche. In this article, we’ll discuss landscaping for mental health as well as the health benefits of gardening. Plus, if you’re looking for a landscape plan that will boost your mood, we have some suggestions for you. 

 

 

How Landscaping for Mental Health Works

Have you ever gone hiking and wished you could take in the view forever? Greenery has a fascinating effect on us as human beings. There are plenty of valid reasons we urge kids to go outside and play. Similarly, it’s good for adults to get off phones and computers to spend some time outdoors. Since the first humans lived alongside nature, it makes sense for us to associate it with good feelings. Perhaps our penchant for enjoying picnics, strolls in the park, and beautiful landscapes can be attributed to some instinctual sensibility. Exposure to nature can:

 

• Improve your blood pressure
• Calm fight or flight responses
• Strengthen cognitive abilities
• Strengthen self-esteem
• Strengthen communities
• Help you recover faster from sickness or injury

 

So, as our society strays away from its natural roots, finding ways to get outside is essential. This is where landscaping comes into the picture. Landscaping for mental health implies a need for more pleasant verdant spaces. While going on a hike or visiting a park can be fun, these aren’t things you can feasibly do every day. People have work and other obligations that get in the way of these sorts of outings and activities. This is why you should invest in a good landscape plan for your home. The yard is one part of the home neglected the most often. This is especially true nowadays when it seems people are less inclined to get outside. Adding bushes, trees, and flowers to your yard and taking care of the lawn is a great way to landscape for mental health.

 

 

Health Benefits of Gardening

Starting a garden can be a practical way of getting more food into your refrigerator for less money. But it can also be a hobby or a way to begin and maintain a more active, healthy lifestyle. Good quality produce is becoming more and more expensive. The best way around these prices is to grow your own. While starting a garden from scratch with little knowledge about growing is daunting, it can also ultimately be rewarding. Gardening benefits you in plenty of ways. And there’s no single reason a person might be drawn to it. Gardening benefits both the body and mind. 

For those interested in taking some of the work into their own hands, gardening has tons of health benefits. Once again, you can’t overstate that gardening and being with nature generally can improve your mood. Gardening is typically a peaceful activity to do and, as such, eases stress. Plus, seeing your work in the garden pays off, as your plants can improve your self-esteem too. Gardening can also involve some hard labor. You have to move around and dig into the ground. In this sense, gardening is a great way to get your body moving and enjoy some exercise. These are just a few of the health benefits of gardening.

 

 

Start Your Landscape Plan Today

Now that you have an idea of all the gardening benefits you can reap, it’s time to get started. Gardening can be a lot of hard work, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Take a look at the current state of your yard. Start thinking about what types of things you want to grow and where. Perhaps you’re more interested in flowers, shrubs, and trees. Or, on the flip side, maybe you want to plant things that you’ll eventually be able to eat. Either way, you must ensure that your yard is in good shape before you begin gardening. Starting a garden on an inferior lawn won’t yield much good. For example, you wouldn’t try to add an addition to a dilapidated house before you fixed up the original framework. 

To begin your yard’s landscape plan, check out Apex Landscaping. We’re a landscaping company dedicated to bringing Chicago and the surrounding areas beautiful scenery. Formed in 1991, we started as a simple way for a first-year high school student to make money during the summer. Now, as an established landscaping business, we serve Chicagoland, Northern Illinois, and even as far north as Kenosha, Wisconsin. We offer complete maintenance landscape services for commercial and residential properties. We also offer snow and ice management services during the winter months. For more information about our landscaping for mental health and our specific services, connect with us today. If you want a service you can trust, plan your dream landscape with Apex Landscaping.