Reasons to Plant a Backyard Garden at Your House

For many people, one of the top reasons to own a home instead of renting a house or living in a townhome is the freedom to do more with their outdoor space. When you have a Wake Forest house in Holding Village, you have your own backyard! What you do with your yard is (to a certain extent) up to you. Have you considered planting a backyard garden? If not, you really should!

Why You Should Consider Planting a Backyard Garden at Your House

People of all ages love cultivating a garden, from little kids to senior citizens and everyone in between. It isn’t just fun; it’s actually great for your health too. Here are just a few reasons why:

#1 It can help your body fight disease. Being outdoors has numerous health benefits, both mentally and physically. Did you know that your body is capable of photosynthesis? Your skin uses sunlight to make one of the nutrients you need, Vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential for literally hundreds of body functions, strengthening your bones and your immune system are just two of them. Being out in the sun while you garden can help lower your risk of cancer, dementia, and multiple sclerosis.

#2 Gardening helps you maintain a healthy weight. We have great news for you. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says gardening is exercise! While you may picture gardening as just sitting down, it is far from a sedentary activity. Working in your garden uses every major muscle group in the body! Raking and cutting grass fall under the category of light to moderate exercise. Shoveling, digging, carrying potted plants, and chopping wood is considered vigorous exercise. Studies have found that the physical exertion of working in a garden may help offset obesity. 

#3 You’ll sleep better at night. Being outdoors in the sun and using your muscles does one thing really well. It makes you tired! Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reported that people who garden are more likely to get a solid seven to eight hours of sleep at night. Healthy sleep then goes on to make you overall healthier, because it is directly related to mental health, staying at a healthy weight, your mood, your ability to concentrate, and more.

#4 It improves cognitive function. This brings us to our next point. Doctors have known for years that exercise improves cognitive functioning. What about gardening? Is it enough on its own to affect cognitive skills like memory? Yes! New evidence shows that gardening activities may spur growth in your brain’s memory-related nerves. In studies across the globe, people with dementia who gardened showed exciting progress and increased brain function.

#5 It’s a mood booster! Gardening improves your mood and increases your self-esteem. It also serves to lower anxiety and depression. This has been proven time and time again, in many studies. Why is this? For one, being outdoors in general is fantastic for our mental health. As well, it’s a little bit of everything else we mentioned combined. Getting exercise and sleeping well also serve to boost your mental health. Gardening will give you something to focus on rather than answering emails or other stressors. When you put time and effort into something and literally watch it grow, it will be so rewarding. Talk about a mood booster!

Beautiful Wake Forest Living at Holding Village

All of this is dependent on having the perfect Wake Forest house with the backyard space needed in order to make your garden great. These homes can be found in Holding Village. People come for the desirable new Wake Forest homes at Holding Village, but they stay for the outdoor living! There are many amenities in our neighborhood to enjoy, from a 15-acre lake to a community pool. That being said, when you love your garden and enjoy watching it thrive, you may not find any reason to leave your own backyard!