How To Incorporate Gardening Into Your Home
Plants matter in a home environment, whether they're indoors or outdoors. An outdoor garden can offer a healthy food source, and outdoor physical activity while adding beauty to lawn areas. But that's not all plants can do at home.
When you're designing interiors, you should always make room for plants. Why? Creating a space that marries indoors and outdoors with gardening can make a home feel more inviting, comfortable, and healthy. In fact, having plants indoors can relieve stress, offer a healthy food source, and can even help clear the air.
These are just some of the ways to incorporate gardening at home.
Why Make Gardening a Priority in Home Design?
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Indoor plants matter, offering a healthier place to live with a calmer environment. When you have plants indoors, especially edible ones, they can offer fresh food and a sense of satisfaction.
Plants make it easier to sleep at night, too. We all need fresh air to sleep, because without it, we're susceptible to headaches, allergy symptoms, and congestion. Opening windows to clear the air is one option, but bringing plants indoors can be a simple solution for air quality issues.
A NASA study identified several common household plants that can clear indoor air. They're able to effectively remove chemicals from the air you breathe while you're sleeping or going about your day. These chemicals include benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde, which are irritating and potentially toxic and carcinogenic.
One big way to incorporate gardening at home is to place these air clearing plants throughout your home:
Ficus
English ivy
Peace lily
Gerbera daisy
Golden pothos
Chinese evergreen
Gardening Outdoors For Health and Design
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Of course, an outdoor garden is another popular option for incorporating gardening at home. An outdoor garden can improve health and step up outdoor design.
A lush outdoor garden can transform an outdoor space. Where there was once nothing, there is now a source of food, beauty, and pride. Garden owners can take advantage of health benefits as well, including reduced stress, exposure to sunlight and helpful bacteria, and moderate physical activity.
A great garden is one you know you'll be able to keep up with, so start by choosing the perfect spot for gardening. It. should be in the right place for soil and sunlight, but also be easy to take care of.
Choose a spot that's easily in view so it can be monitored and cared for regularly. Your garden should get at least six hours of sunlight each day with good drainage and air circulation. It's a good idea to look for a spot that's level and has rich soil. You'll also want it to be close to water and have easy access to gardening equipment and tool storage.
Although it's tempting to plant close to your home so it's easy to get to your garden, don't get too close. Generally, you'll want your garden to be at least 10 feet away from walls so they won't be too shaded and susceptible to disease and insect damage.
Prepare your garden area by clearing the ground, adding organic matter such as compost, decayed leaves, or dry grass clippings to improve the quality of the soil, and cultivate the soil so it's easier for roots to penetrate it.
Consider which plants you want in your garden. It's a good idea to look up which plants do best in your climate each season, and if you're growing your garden for food, think about which vegetables you enjoy eating, so you'll be able to take advantage of the harvest from your garden.
Make sure you keep up with your garden, maintaining a regular watering schedule and protecting it with mulch. You'll also need to transition your garden from season to season as the weather and growing conditions change.
Whether you're gardening indoors or outdoors, plants can add dimension, health, and satisfaction to your home environment. Take care of plants, and they can help take care of you.
Susan Austin is a family research specialist with Family Living Today. A mother of three and small business owner in Texas, Austin spends her days juggling work and family life -- sometimes expertly, sometimes not.
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