Most people agree that landscaping the yard improves the appearance of their homes, but did you know that studies have shown that it also can improve your health? Gardening can reduce stress and provide exercise.

I know people in their 80’s who are still active, alert gardeners. They have more energy and stamina than people half their age. Now, I can’t guarantee that they are only healthy and spry because they spend time in the garden, but I bet that sitting in a chair and staring at the television all day doesn’t have the same physical impact!

One reason that gardening is so good for your health is that the process of gardening allows you to do plenty of low impact and weight bearing exercises, from digging holes to hefting 50 pound bags of top soil. Since we need to make an effort to keep our bones and muscles strong as we age, this is a really useful side effect!

Weeding and raking also can be beneficial for our health, unless we overdo it. All of that bending and reaching really promotes flexibility. However, before you begin one of these gardening tasks, you should be sure to stretch properly to avoid pulling muscles. Spending the rest of the week sitting very still with a heating pad on your shoulder is not very fun. (And I should know. I’ve strained more than one muscle from not warming up my muscles before I went into the garden to weed for a few hours.)

If you are a busy professional, you may think that gardening isn’t a productive way to spend your time, especially if you hit the gym regularly. However, even if you aren’t interested in the other health benefits of growing plants, you may want to garden to relieve stress. There’s something about turning a weedy patch of ground into a thing of beauty that really soothes and relaxes most people. Worried about maintaining your garden? Many gardeners find that weeding is also a very soothing and relaxing activity, but if you don’t want to spend much time in your garden beds, choose slow growing shrubs and apply a thick layer of mulch to minimize upkeep.

One more thing before you grab your shovel and head for the yard – you should discuss gardening with your doctor to be sure that you do not have any health conditions that could be worsened by certain gardening tasks. For example, if you have a hernia, your doctor may want you to avoid lifting big plant pots or heavy bags of soil, mulch and compost.