News
Why Gardening Together Can Strengthen Your Relationship
Gardening has been scientifically proven to improve the relationship between couples. Whether married, in a committed relationship or just friends, sharing the joys of gardening can help strengthen bonds. Here's how:
Gardening helps to reduce stress and relaxes the mind and body
Gardening is a wonderful way to spend time with your partner and can have positive impacts on your relationship. A recent study found that people who garden every day have 6.6% higher well-being scores and 4.2% lower stress levels than those who don’t garden at all.
Furthermore, gardening has been proven to benefit mental health. According to one study, 20 minutes of contact with nature can lower stress hormone levels.
Spending time together planting seeds, nurturing plants and enjoying the results can help build trust and increase closeness between partners. By gardening, you’re improving your physical, psychological, and social health. Gardening together as a couple is a great way to let off some steam, helping you feel happier and more relaxed.
Gardening encourages conversation
Gardening is a labor of love and an activity that encourages conversation.
Not only do you have to talk to each other while gardening, you'll also find that the task itself allows you to explore topics that may not arise organically. You might ask your partner if they've ever considered building a compost pile or what their ideal garden looks like. The conversation possibilities are endless.
You may also find yourself talking through disagreements while gardening because it's easier to be calm when working with plants than when discussing finances or other sensitive subjects.
Gardening brings a sense of adventure
When you're dating, your life is an adventure. You meet new people, try new things and learn more about each other. Once you settle down, it's easy to get comfortable and lose that sense of adventure.
Gardening can bring that back into your relationship. It lets you be active together, work on a project together, and travel to see gardens or grow plants in the same way you might travel to see a new city or go hiking.
It can also help you develop a deeper appreciation for the natural world; a greater emotional resilience and awareness of the impact our choices have on the planet.
Gardening brings a sense of accomplishment
Working on a project together can be extremely rewarding, especially when you see the fruits of your labor. Watching your seedlings grow into mature plants is an experience unlike any other. By doing something together that you enjoy, you’re creating a deeper bond between you and your loved one.
When your garden is grown, you can look back on your efforts and be proud that you’ve done something truly worthwhile together. By growing plants, you’re also supporting life on earth. Plants release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, as well as providing shelter and nutrition for wildlife.
Gardening encourages you to laugh when things don't go as planned
The benefits of gardening together go well beyond the produce. It introduces an element of play into your life, and play is the bedrock of romantic relationships. It also provides opportunities for shared experiences, generates excitement and creates memories. Plus, it encourages you to laugh at yourself when things don't go as planned.
Gardening helps you appreciate the roles of uncertainty and experimentation. It can teach you to be more patient, less judgmental and more accepting of yourself and others.
In many ways, gardening is a metaphor for life’s important lessons. Perhaps the most important one is that we’re not in control, not really. We're in charge of some things: how much we water, how often, what kind of soil we use, whether we plant flowers or vegetables or both.
But we can't make plants grow any faster than they want to; we can't make them thrive where they don't want to; we can't make them be productive without sunlight and moisture and nutrients. Things won’t always go as planned, but gardening teaches us that we can still have fun trying new things and enjoying the process.
Gardening challenges you to be mindful
Often we get so focused on our day-to-day lives that we forget to take time to stop and smell the roses. Gardening can help you be more mindful of what you have right now. When you plant a seed or cut a flower, you're reminded that it starts with one small action. It requires patience too; that flower won't bloom overnight!
Gardening can be a great form of self-care for you and your partner. It challenges you to be mindful of yourself, mindful of your surroundings and mindful of your plants. In a sense, it can help you avoid conflict by giving you something to focus on besides your daily cares.
The gardening process works on different levels: from the physical act of getting down in the dirt and digging, watering, and harvesting; to the mental challenges of selecting seeds, planning out the garden layout and navigating challenges as they arise; to the emotional benefits of enjoying fresh produce or sharing the bounty with others.
Over time, gardening can become a kind of meditation for you and your partner, practicing the art of being present. It can help you feel more connected to each other as well as yourself.
Gardening helps you appreciate each other's strengths
We all have challenges in our lives. In any type of relationship, there are difficult times to face. Sometimes people are afraid that if they open up about their struggles, they'll be judged as weak or less capable. Gardening can remind us how having different strengths can help us work together and appreciate each other more. You and your partner have different skills but when you're working together on one project, you have to use your strengths to cover for one another's weaknesses.
So, why not try a new activity that’ll add a little spark to your relationship? Even if you live in an apartment, there are fun, easy-to-use options for gardening that don't require much space, such as Click & Grow smart gardens.
The Click & Grow Smart Garden
Gardening can be a great way to get closer to the one you love, whether it’s a romantic partner, a friend, or a family member. At the same time, you’ll be doing something that’s making the world a better place.
Explore more:
- Indoor Herb Garden: Best Benefits & Reasons to Grow
- Indoor Gardening for Beginners: 5 Essential Tips
- Click and Grow Review: America’s Test Kitchen reveals the BEST indoor garden!
Image credit (top to bottom):
MOUii/Shutterstock
Roman Chazov/Shutterstock
Dusan Petkovic/Shutterstock
Freedomz/Shutterstock
DenisProduction.com/Shutterstock
Supavadee butradee/Shutterstock
Asia Images Group/Shutterstock
Click & Grow