Gardening and the Importance of Good Soil
Did you know that the quality of life increases when we have access to fresh, healthy produce? Or that establishing a routine to spend time outside helps you create vitamin D from the sunlight and allow exposure to a bacteria in the soil which naturally boosts serotonin levels? Whether you have a little space (maybe you want to grow cherry tomatoes or pickling cucumbers or herbs in pots on a porch or balcony) or a lot, there are so many benefits to be gained from establishing a garden.
In 2019, a collaborative study by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Minnesota found that the act of gardening has a comparable effect on emotional well being to the other top three leisure activities: biking, walking, and eating out. If you don’t have access to a yard, fear not, for the study took place in Minneapolis with a diverse sample group that included urban gardeners using small spaces like balconies and window boxes. Even having house plants to take care of can add to your mental well-being and bring fresh oxygen into your home.
Whether gardening in the ground or in a pot, the most important thing to keep in mind is the quality of the soil. Healthy soil allows for good drainage, it is full of nutrients that feed the plants, and encourages a diverse ecosystem of microbes that help deliver those nutrients to the roots. Compost is a nutrient rich soil that you can make yourself by recycling your kitchen scraps, or buy it at a local hardware store. Using wood chips as mulch on top of that soil can prevent flash flooding in the garden by percolating heavy rainfall, and it has the added benefit of slowing the process of evaporation. If you’re in the area and would like to pick up some free wood chips, contact us to set up a day and time!
If you have a yard, we’d say that a garden isn’t truly complete without a tree, and having healthy soil is equally important for trees. When the soil quality is poor, trees are likely to be placed under stress, which causes them to become more susceptible to insect attacks and fungal diseases. Harmful insects can be secondary problems as they are attracted to trees that are already under stress from their environment. Stressors include being in soil that doesn’t properly drain, overcrowding trees, and not digging deep enough when planting a tree.
If you are planting a new tree, it’s important to keep in mind that the small sapling you purchased will one day be a large, mature tree — so make sure to allow for space and avoid overcrowding. And when you plant a tree, make sure that the hole is twice as large as the root ball going in, as this creates space to put down a layer of rich soil and helps give the roots room to spread out and acclimate to the new environment. Give the new tree in your garden a good start to help ensure its longevity and good health, while simultaneously benefiting your own health and happiness.
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