Living beside greenery has many health benefits, and you can create a fascinating green space at your home with some tips and minimal effort.
A well-developed garden can make you joyful and happy if you just spend some time in it.
In our fast-paced urban lifestyle, very few have time for gardening but this hobby can vastly improve your quality of life.
Benefits of Gardening
Outdoor gardening in the sun can improve the production of vitamin D in your body. Vitamin D is essential for literally hundreds of body functions — strengthening your bones and your immune system are just two of them. It also regulates our mood and helps us to fight depression.
Gardening will help you with the following unique benefits.
- Improves health and immunity.
- Gardening builds strength, enhances sleep quality, and helps you to maintain a healthy weight.
- Gardening can protect your memory as you get older. It is supportive of fighting age-related dementia.
- Gardening is a mood booster. After spending some time in a garden, people’s anxiety level drops significantly.
- Working in a garden can help you recuperate if you’ve experienced something stressful.
- Gardening is used worldwide as a de-addiction tool. Plants provoke positive feelings in people recovering from addiction.
- A beautiful garden can make you happy and improve family bonding.
Prepare before You Start
Gardening can pose certain risks and you should prepare yourself before you take the plunge. You must take adequate precautions while you are working in your garden.
- Have a health checkup to know if you have hypertension or any other health issues.
- Drink lots of water and do not overexpose to the sun.
- Keep a close eye on children. Sharp tools, chemicals, and outdoor heat may pose more of a threat to kids.
- Be careful while using pesticides, weed killers, and fertilizers as incorrect use can pose danger..
- Arrange all necessary gardening devices such as hand trowel, gardening gloves, digging fork, pruner, and watering can.
Landscaping a Bungalow with a Garden
If you live in a bungalow, you would surely like to decorate the available outer space with plants and trees. A preliminary plan for landscaping is a good starting point.
How to Design a Fabulous Bungalow Garden
It is a good idea to take the help of a professional landscape artist while designing your garden for the first time. But before that you must consider the following aspects.
Consider the purpose of your garden very carefully. Is it for growing chemical-free organic vegetables in your backyard? Or putting together an esthetically pleasing surrounding. Maybe you wish to have a flower garden which will bloom in every season.
A well-designed garden must have ample open spaces, a proper drainage system, and a pace where you can sit down and relax on a Sunday afternoon. While considering the layout of your den, keep these in mind.
Even if you are interested in a vegetable garden, it is a good idea to keep a green space surrounded by flower plants where you can have a seating arrangement or install a hammock.
Consider planting some bushy trees on the western side to cut off the rays of the sun and keep your home cool.
Design an Awesome Balcony Garden
Compared to a garden on the ground, a balcony has much less space. Therefore, you must be very scrupulous in utilizing the available space. However, there is no way you can make the garden devoid of openness. Otherwise, it will resemble a jungle, not a garden.
At the outset choose the kind of plants you will have in your balcony garden. You can have a pure flower garden, or a vegetable garden, and even a herb garden. But it is preferable to have a mixture of the three.
You must choose flower plants for different seasons so that there are some flowers blooming year-round in your garden. Vegetables like tomato, chili, carrot, and herbs like cilantro can be easily grown in a small space.
Try and use the vertical space as much as possible. You can plant creepers for this purpose. You can also use railings for the creepers to spread and grow.
Don’t forget to choose proper planters and pots depending on the usable space on your balcony. Terracotta pots are heavy and dry quickly, so you can have lightweight plastic alternatives.
A Few Words about Cactuses
If you are a little lazy in watering your plants, cactuses can be great additions to your balcony garden. Cactuses can store water in their roots, leaves, and stems and are low-maintenance plants.
However, overwatering can kill them. So take care of the drainage system and ensure there is no water accumulation. It is better to slightly underwater than over-water them.
Moreover, all of them are flowering plants and they look very beautiful when they bloom.
Beautify with Bonsai
Bonsai, which are dwarfed versions of larger trees, can be pleasant appendages to a balcony garden where space is at a premium.
There are nurseries where a variety of bonsai plants are available. It is amazing to see bonsai plants with smaller versions of flowers and fruits.
However, it takes some careful effort to plant bonsai as they are delicate plants. You must prepare the soil as recommended. A good bonsai soil mix needs to retain water well without drowning the roots.
Bonsai plants need proper water and underwatering or overwatering is harmful.
Another point is that they need regular fertilizing throughout their growth season (Spring to Autumn). But, fertilizing needs can vary based on the type of tree you are working with. Fertilizers suitable for bonsai plants are available in nurseries.
Adorn Your Home with Indoor Plants
A bit of sun, and some care can help indoor plants make your home lively. You can place those beautiful plants on window sills, or wherever some sunlight is available.
There are many varieties of snake plants, crotons, aloe plants, and air plants that need only indirect lighting and shade. They are ideal for indoors.
Roof Garden Enlivens a Community
Roof gardens are highly appreciated now in most residential complexes. Even high-rise buildings boast of well-designed roof gardens nowadays.
Roof gardens are double up as social spaces, especially on hot summer days like these. Some roof gardens have even spaces for walking and joining in an adda session.
These days almost all gated communities or even standalone residential buildings are maintained by facility management companies. There is hardly any effort required on the part of the residents for maintaining these gardens.
Cooling off in a breeze on a high-rise among colourful flowers is an excellent benefit for most homebuyers.
Gardens Beautify Places
Gardens not only beautify homes but also embellish places. While Kolkata is famous for the garden around Victoria Memorial and Alipur Horticultural Society, Mysore has its landmark Brindavan Gardens. Bangalore is considered the garden city of India and there are many gardens, Lalbagh being prominent among them.
You cannot miss Shalimar Garden or Nishat Bag if you are in Kashmir. They are truly pieces of heaven.
While Mumbai has its Hanging Garden and Kamala Nehru Park, NTR Park is the pride of Hyderabad.
Even if you do not have a large tract of land to create a sprawling garden, you can create a small wonderful garden with little effort and lots of love.
