It’s not just people who proclaim themselves as having green thumbs who can grow a garden. In fact, pretty much anyone with an affinity for plants can start their own garden, if they’d only be willing to spend some time and effort.
A recent study published in the Landscape and Urban Planning Journal found that gardening can boost your mental health, especially if you grow vegetables rather than plants or decorative flowers.
If you’re planning on growing your own garden, you can either go the old school route and pick up a book that will serve as your primer, or turn to influencers — just be sure not to mulch your cellphone into your garden bed!
Social media influencers are online celebrities, sure, but they are also considered to be thought leaders in some niches, and they are great resources for when you want to learn about a variety of topics. Data from the Association of National Advertisers found that 75% of national advertisers in the US used influencer marketing in 2018, and many are planning on increasing their spending.
This just cements the fact that the power of social media influencers is growing. These days, there are influencers dealing with just about any topic — from make-up to design, and even gardening. Here are some tips for your own DIY gardens from some of the world’s most popular social media influencers:
Watering plants is not as easy as wetting the soil on schedule
House Plant Journal’s Darryl Cheng underscores the importance of watering your plants to keep them happy and healthy. He notes that plants fall within one of three watering techniques: 1) when the soil is completely dry (for cacti, succulents, and thick-leaved plants), 2) when the soil is only partly dry (for typical house plants), and 3) when the soil is evenly moist (for thin-leaved plants).
When you water, be sure to moisten all parts of the soil without leaving any dry pockets, all while allowing excess water to drain away.
Grow more herbs in your garden beds
Big City Gardener’s Timothy Hammond suggests that planting herbs in your garden beds presents a lot of benefits, including getting rid of pests, and the fruit and vegetable roots that meet underground become what he refers to as “best friends.”
When you do decide to grow herbs, it’s recommended that you also try drying and preserving them as well. When the weather transitions to fall and winter, you’ll give yourself a pat on the back for doing so.
Remember that gardening involves resilience
Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl highlights how gardening entails resilience: cultivation can take different forms, so you must spend some time trying to cultivate yours. It’s easy to grow weary, but as you grow your garden, whether it’s big or small, you’re also learning resilience albeit unconsciously. You’re simultaneously cultivating a relationship with plants, the earth, whether you’re conscious about it or not. Allow your plants to steady you and be a source of comfort.
Not only will it help you pick up a new hobby, but Harvard Health Publishing also notes that backyard gardening can inspire you to take an interest in where your food comes from, leading you to make better choices about what you serve on the table.
When you start to grow your own food, you tend to savor it more because of the effort you expended in getting it from the garden to your plate.
Additionally, tending to a garden and growing your food encourages you to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, have a say on what kind of fertilizers and pesticides come in contact with your food, and have full control over when to harvest your food. Vegetables that ripen in the garden tend to be packed with more nutrients compared to store-bought vegetables that had to be picked early.
Although it might be intimidating to begin gardening for the first time ever, there are plenty of free online resources to help you get started. Along with social media influencers like the ones listed above, searching for hashtags like #growyourownveggies, #growfoodnotlawns and #ediblegarden, to name a few, can give you some useful advice and inspiration.
— Article specially written by JBlevins for the winnipegrealestatenews.com