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The Healing Power of Gardens

nytimes.com

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Re: The Healing Power of Gardens

#11

Post by Pfhreak »

hanniabu wrote: post #9
_qwfv wrote: post #4

This article focuses a lot on large, well curated gardens, but I'm an engineer who found a lot of solace and safety in managing my own garden. (As someone who has faced burnout and anxiety from work before.) There's something about planning, planting, and then caring for a garden that appeals to my engineer brain. It's an exercise in organization and planning that scales from "throw seeds at dirt" to "these plants wi…

> There's something about planning, planting, and then caring for a garden that appeals to my engineer brain Agreed, and it's also not a stressful task in itself for some reason. I'm somebody that's over analytical and tends to succumb to analysis paralysis, but when it comes to garden work I never experience that. (possibly because I know plants are resilient and it's hard to mess up?)

The only thing that stresses me is when my plants fail and I don't know why.

Re: The Healing Power of Gardens

#13

Post by hanniabu »

jrace wrote: post #3

>I cannot say exactly how nature exerts its calming and organizing effects on our brains, but I have seen in my patients the restorative and healing powers of nature and gardens, even for those who are deeply disabled neurologically. In many cases, gardens and nature are more powerful than any medication. --- I have witnessed this with my wife who's neurological disorder causes her to be in a "fright or flight" state…

Not only is it visually pleasing, as an escape fro our usual concrete-filled world (probably because we evolved living in nature), but without doing any research to look up studies I feel like the reduced stress might also come from the smell (pheromones).

Re: The Healing Power of Gardens

#14

Post by jrumbut »

hanniabu wrote: post #9
_qwfv wrote: post #4

This article focuses a lot on large, well curated gardens, but I'm an engineer who found a lot of solace and safety in managing my own garden. (As someone who has faced burnout and anxiety from work before.) There's something about planning, planting, and then caring for a garden that appeals to my engineer brain. It's an exercise in organization and planning that scales from "throw seeds at dirt" to "these plants wi…

> There's something about planning, planting, and then caring for a garden that appeals to my engineer brain Agreed, and it's also not a stressful task in itself for some reason. I'm somebody that's over analytical and tends to succumb to analysis paralysis, but when it comes to garden work I never experience that. (possibly because I know plants are resilient and it's hard to mess up?)

Yeah it really breaks through the paralysis because once you get the seeds wet the plants are coming on their own schedule whether you're ready or not.

Plants are definitely resilient. I like experimenting with high densities/small pots on the very unlikely chance I find some plants with synergy (or just lack of space).

In 2017 this resulted in tiny (but tasty!) jalapenos (about a quarter of the normal size) growing off a plant that had sat on the windowsill doing nothing for 2 years.

If anyone has advice on plant pairings/symbiosis I would love to hear it!

Re: The Healing Power of Gardens

#15

Post by jrumbut »

Pfhreak wrote: post #11
hanniabu wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's something about planning, planting, and then caring for a garden that appeals to my engineer brain Agreed, and it's also not a stressful task in itself for some reason. I'm somebody that's over analytical and tends to succumb to analysis paralysis, but when it comes to garden work I never experience that. (possibly because I know plants are resilient and it's hard to mess up?)

The only thing that stresses me is when my plants fail and I don't know why.

Edit: I just saw your other post, this one in isolation made me think you had tried gardening once and given up.

That just happens sometimes!

Hard to explain failures are often caused by one or more of over watering, pests (including at the root level), too little soil, or bad soil PH. Symptoms of pests include visible bugs, mold, eggs, or webs (check under the leaves) or a weird smell. PH problems sometimes manifest as discolored leaves.

Also like animals plants have very different levels of vitality, there is strength in numbers!

If you want to try again let me recommend herbs and leaf vegetables. Mint, basil, arugula, lettuce, and mustard greens grow fast and mint in particular is somewhat invasive and hard to stop it gets going.

It can be tough to grow a tomato that looks like the ones at the grocery store without experience and more time and care. There's an art to it.

Re: The Healing Power of Gardens

#16

Post by dekhn »

Pfhreak wrote: post #11
hanniabu wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's something about planning, planting, and then caring for a garden that appeals to my engineer brain Agreed, and it's also not a stressful task in itself for some reason. I'm somebody that's over analytical and tends to succumb to analysis paralysis, but when it comes to garden work I never experience that. (possibly because I know plants are resilient and it's hard to mess up?)

The only thing that stresses me is when my plants fail and I don't know why.

I moved to "easier" plants and was a lot happier. Once I mastered growing an ivy, I felt more comfortable. For me the general problem is that plants just stop growing because they've exhausted the nutrients in the soil, and then I bungle the fertilizer (too much) and the plant dies.

Re: The Healing Power of Gardens

#17

Post by benatkin »

kingkawn wrote: post #12

We are, despite our pretenses, also products of the natural world, and do well to reside amongst our kind.

There's something about this I read on Slate Star Codex that I found entertaining and insightful. It's easy to forget that we needed to be in a fertile place in the past, and for the most part we don't need to now, except for emotional reasons.

"Most people are happier when they’re in at least some Nature, whether this means a grand national park or just a leafy suburb with lots of chirping birds. The average person would consider a concrete lot full of Brutalist apartments a little soul-crushing. This probably comes from an evolutionary heuristic in favor of fertile areas and against barren ones; the closest chimpanzee-parseable equivalent to a concrete lot would be a desert or lava flow, where food and shelter are scarce. But nowadays we can order takeout, and the Brutalist apartment buildings provide all the shelter we need. This is probably another obsolete evolutionary relic, but it’s a very persistent one."

https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/24/value-differences-as-d...

Re: The Healing Power of Gardens

#18

Post by jedberg »

Before we had kids, my wife and I would work in the garden almost every weekend. After spending a week dealing with servers on fire, doing mindless repetitive work was exactly what I needed to rest my mind.

At one point I dug out a garden that was 37’ x 14’ and over a foot deep. I did the math once and figured out that I moved more than 2000 lbs of dirt (a literal ton) and then I moved a literal ton of bricks to the back yard to build the retaining walls.

Measuring your accomplishments in tonnage is very satisfying.

Re: The Healing Power of Gardens

#19

Post by perfmode »

jrumbut wrote: post #15
Pfhreak wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only thing that stresses me is when my plants fail and I don't know why.

Edit: I just saw your other post, this one in isolation made me think you had tried gardening once and given up. That just happens sometimes! Hard to explain failures are often caused by one or more of over watering, pests (including at the root level), too little soil, or bad soil PH. Symptoms of pests include visible bugs, mold, eggs, or webs (check under the leaves) or a weird smell. PH problems sometimes manifest…

i’ve had great results growing basil. I had a plant we named Harry, who thrived in Palo Alto despite erratic care. Harry would drink as much water as we could give it and would be visibly wilted when thirsty. Otherwise, incredibly happy sitting in the sun and producing leaves.

Re: The Healing Power of Gardens

#20

Post by jrace »

hanniabu wrote: post #13
jrace wrote: post #3

>I cannot say exactly how nature exerts its calming and organizing effects on our brains, but I have seen in my patients the restorative and healing powers of nature and gardens, even for those who are deeply disabled neurologically. In many cases, gardens and nature are more powerful than any medication. --- I have witnessed this with my wife who's neurological disorder causes her to be in a "fright or flight" state…

Not only is it visually pleasing, as an escape fro our usual concrete-filled world (probably because we evolved living in nature), but without doing any research to look up studies I feel like the reduced stress might also come from the smell (pheromones).

Very likely.

As well I think it empowers her and gives her some semblance of control.

Combined with the satisfaction of taking an idea and seeing it through, and then having that idea grow beyond what you originally intended.

We are planning our new home around the ability to construct and maintain a years-long garden project.

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