The majority of seasoned gardeners will possibly say that there are zero disadvantages where gardening is concerned.
Those gardeners that are forced into gardening because they’ve got a garden and it must be tidied up from time to time will likely have a list of disadvantages of gardening.
Do remember that gardening as a hobby is a very different proposition to gardening as a professional.
Hobby gardeners are free to potter around outdoors. Professionals must make a living.
Anyhow, let’s now assess a few advantages and disadvantages of gardening.
Advantages of Gardening
1 Gardening is physically good for you
Irrespective of your physical condition or your age, gardening can provide you with excellent physical exercise.
For those that suffer with stiff, painful joints, gardening helps to maintain range of motion and flexibility.
Digging, stooping down, and bending over can be hard work. Nevertheless, if you work smarter rather than harder, digging, stooping over and bending don’t have to cause your body too much hardship.
Start out your gardening by doing some stretching exercises.
Alter the type of tasks you’re doing fairly regularly.
Make sure you have a break fairly regularly, too.
There are many different types of tools available for gardeners now, and many of those tools are equipped to help you ergonomically.
If you can’t bend over for long, or can’t bend over at all, you might consider having raised beds in your garden.
The key is to listen to what your body is telling you and don’t be tempted to keep at it if your comfort zone is inviting you to do otherwise.
2 Mental health benefits on offer, too
If you want to get away from the usual (or not-so usual) daily stresses, spending some time in the garden can definitely help out.
Pottering in the garden will help you to calm your mind and reduce any anxiety.
If you’re frustrated or angry, gardening can help you with that, too.
Gardening can help us with our self-esteem and it can quickly alter negative thinking to positivity.
Furthermore, there is research to suggest that some soil bacterias help us – or help our bodies – to produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter. Serotonin helps us to counter depression and makes us feel good.
3 Save money
It’s true that you can spend a lot of money on your garden.
It’s also a lot easier – a lot more convenient – to buy vegetables and fruit at the supermarket than it is to grow your own.
However, if you are fond of growing vegetables and/ or fruit in your garden, there are numerous benefits in comparison to buying from the local supermarket.
Homegrown vegetables and/ or fruit are cheaper – at least over the longer term.
Homegrown tastes far better.
Homegrown is also a lot fresher.
Then, on top of all of that, there’s just so much satisfaction to picking your own homegrown carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, turnips, onions – you name it.
4 Soil is good for us
A lot of research has been undertaken and the results of which suggest that the underlying reasons for a rise in allergies, in asthma and in other human illnesses is because kids rarely play out in the garden these days – at least not in more developed countries.
In other words, the relationship we previously had when it was the norm to grow our own potatoes and carrots at home is broken.
And because it’s broken, our immune systems are somewhat compromised.
Playing outside and playing, at least occasionally, in the dirt, provides a level of protection against a range of human-related illnesses.
Disadvantages of Gardening
1 Gardening isn’t necessarily fun
Digging, kneeling, stooping or bending over, and a variety of other repetitive movements that are all part of gardening can be harmful to your joints, to your bones, to your muscles, and can cause blisters on your hands and possibly also on your feet.
It’s possible to get carpal tunnel syndrome if you utilize your hands, or hand, in a repetitive motion when gardening.
When you’re kneeling, you can get knee-related problems.
When you’re bending over, your back can start to ache.
Plus, many types of gardening machinery are not necessarily completely safe to use. Chainsaw, anyone?
2 Garden-related infections
There’s no argument that garden soil can play host to harmful pathogens.
You can get tetanus (otherwise known as lock jaw), you can get Lyme disease, you can get Legionnaires disease, you can get Weil’s disease (from rats), you can pick up fungal infections that are the cause of respiratory illness.
3 Gardening is not a cheap pursuit
Ever thought about hiring a landscaper to design your garden? Unless you have an extremely small garden, you’ll be looking at investing many thousands into the project.
But, even if you don’t need to do any landscaping, there’s the gardening equipment to buy.
There are the plants to buy.
There are the variety of soil amendments to buy, inclusive of fertilizers.
Investment into a greenhouse, perhaps?
You may need some garden machinery, too, such as a lawnmower, a chainsaw, a hedge trimmer…
4 The law is not always on your side
You may not be aware of this, but throughout the country, there are municipal governments that do not permit backyard or front yard vegetable gardens.
If anyone complains about your veggie garden exploits, you could face a fine, you’ll be forced to ditch your veggie garden, and you could even face jail time.
You should be mindful of tree-related issues, too.
Photo by Markus Spiske temporausch.com from Pexels