Gardening as a Hobby: 16 Epic Benefits + Tips
Gardening is amazing! Understanding the benefits of backyard gardening as a hobby may be enough to get you hooked for life!
My gardening hobby is one of the few activities I’ve found in life that can be simultaneously exciting and relaxing.
I’m so excited for my plants to grow!
Ahh, I feel my stress melting away!
It’s truly a win-win activity for all ages.
In case you want to understand some of the many benefits of a garden hobby to help get you over the edge into the wide world of gardening…
I’m happy to grab your hand and pull you along. You can find exactly the right type of gardening to suit your interests!
Let’s go already, I’m so excited to share this with you!
Special Gardening Hobbies
Sure, gardening is great in general, but what are some more specific gardening hobbies that might interest you? Here are some of my favorites:
- Local Garden Club
- Seed Saving
- Seed Swapping
- Plant Propagation
- Hybrid Flower Breeding
- Indoor Gardening
Can you think of other gardening hobbies to add to the list? Leave them in the comments for us and we’ll be sure to add them!
Starting a Hobby Garden: What Do I Need?
To get started in gardening, you will need to iron out a few details. You also probably need to get your hands on some gardening tools and equipment. Here are some suggestions!
- Decide where you will plant your plants. Will it be a container garden or an in-ground garden?
- Choose your focus. Will you grow flowers, fruits, veggies, herbs, or a combination of them all?
- Prepare and gather tools and items you may need. Gather gardening tools and accessories, such as a hand spade and gardening gloves, a watering can, and so forth.
A gardening hobby can cost as little or as much as you can afford. Gardeners are generally very generous people and you’ll almost certainly find someone willing to get you up to speed and share plants.
Start small and build your garden each year!
(Or, dive in head first and grow all the plants!)
Whatever you decide will be great!
Health Benefits of Planting Vegetables, Fruit & Herbs
One of the most appealing advantages – the benefits of growing vegetables at home span far beyond a single season. You can enjoy health benefits and much more for many years to come!
- Eat healthier as a result of newfound foods! Reach for cucumbers, carrots, and fresh fruit rather than chips and treats. Well, at least sometimes. J You’ll still catch me in the cookie jar for sure.
- Expand your palate with new flavors. Gardening inspires new recipe ideas.
- Feel accomplished! Growing your own food is extremely rewarding.
- Enjoy the fresh air! One of the best things about gardening is all the extra time you’ll spend outside!
- Get your Vitamin D the natural way. Vitamin D is essential to your health and even offers mood boosting properties. This vitamin can even help ward off depression in some cases, but be sure to consult your doctor if you’re feeling blue just to be on the safe side.
Benefits of Having a Garden at Home
Here are some of the best benefits of having a garden at home.
- Save money on your grocery bill. The financial impacts of your garden will likely vary from year to year. You may be able to offset a large portion of your grocery bill with foods you grow in your backyard garden or on your homestead.
- Gardening as a hobby grows with you. You can enjoy gardening for your entire lifetime. You will develop greater skills and enjoy many positive experiences.
- Bond together with family members. Many couples enjoy gardening together. More and more frequently, even children enjoy gardening with their moms or dads. This becomes even more special as children grow and the hobby continues to be a shared joy across generations.
- Sell excess plants and produce. When I was young, my mom let me and my friend take her extra vegetables to the shopping center at the top of the street. I feel like the world’s a different place now, but many opportunities exist to sell the fruits of your efforts!
- Get more exercise. Gardening exercise benefits may be a bit more subtle than traditional exercise, yet the benefits are there. Keep in shape with all the tasks required to grow a healthy garden.
The Benefits of Gardening and Food Growing for Health and Wellbeing
I’ve always enjoyed being a gardener for the many benefits of gardening as a hobby. That being said, I truly plunged into gardening head first during the pandemic quarantine in 2020.
At this time in my life, I sought the benefits of gardening and food growing for health and wellbeing for myself.
My family was going through a stressful time due to a family emergency in the beginning of the pandemic.
Couple that with the actual pandemic, and it was a recipe for a stress disaster. I felt like a hot mess of stress 24/7.
And I pretty much was.
Glued to the news about covid-19, glued to the updates about our family members.
Just putting one foot in front of the other to make it through the day.
I decided to really dig into gardening as a hobby but also as a form of stress relief. As a distraction from everything stressful in my life at that very moment.
It truly helped!
I started seeds in wet paper towels inside plastic baggies as a new gardening experiment. It was nothing short of AMAZING!
Emotional and Mental Health Benefits of Gardening
Some of the mental health and emotional wellbeing benefits of gardening that I noticed during this stressful time included:
- Distraction – Getting my mind off of stressful situations for multiple chunks of time each day
- Family Bonding – Enjoying an exciting hobby with my daughters that allowed us to bond despite troubling times
- Relaxation – Actually remembering how to “relax” – which is something I’ve never been “good” at
- Focusing – Improving my focus and ability to pay attention to small things, even when I felt pulled in a million directions
- Breathing – Remembering to breathe when feeling especially stressed
- Looking Forward – Finding something exciting to look forward to each day, as hard as other parts of the day may be.
With all of this in mind, check out my Free Printable Garden Meditation & Self Care Checklist! Hot off the press!
How to Start Gardening as a Hobby
It’s easy to start gardening! Decide if you feel more like an indoor gardener or an outdoor gardener. You can consider the seasons to help guide your decision.
Different times of year work great for different plants and tasks in the garden.
Here are the VERY very basics of getting started with a gardening hobby.
- Start Small! Don’t bite off more than you can chew right out of the gate. (There’s plenty of time for that! 🙂 Do as I say, not as I do – hah!
- Try a houseplant. You can enjoy indoor gardening with houseplants all year long! It’s not a bad place to start. Try something simple like Pothos or a spider plant.
- Scatter some seeds and see how it goes! You can also try my favorite seed starting method in wet paper towels, or try growing seeds in egg cartons! Both so much fun!
- Discover what you love and KEEP learning! There’s so much to keep learning about gardening. You’ll find your soul plant! Try growing flowers, veggies, herbs, fruit – whatever suits your fancy. Find what you love and keep exploring and discovering!
FAQs about Gardening as a Hobby
Here are some frequently asked questions about hobby gardening:
Is gardening a hobby?
Yes, gardening is a healthy and active hobby. People of all ages can enjoy a gardening hobby, from parents who get the kids involved, to seniors enjoying gardening all their lives. You can get into gardening as deeply or minimally as you like. It’s always fun to add on and try new activities.
What are some good gardening hobbies?
Depending on your interests and your available space, you can try so many different gardening hobbies. Seed swapping and seed saving are just the beginning. You might also enjoy participating in a local gardening club with other gardeners or starting your own.
You can grow an herb garden, vegetable garden, or a mini backyard orchard.
Also consider a cut flower hobby that may even become a business!
These are just a few gardening hobby suggestions.
Final Thoughts: Benefits of Backyard Gardening as a Hobby
Gardening is good for you! In fact, it’s one of the heathiest hobbies you could have.
The effects of gardening stretch far beyond saving money on your groceries, although that is definitely a great perk.
In addition to all the benefits of backyard gardening above, you can also make great new gardening friends to share this joy!
I won’t even get into the social benefits of gardening here, since that topic’s got its own post. You’ll find lots of reasons to enjoy the social gardening benefits – be sure to check our post, 8 Amazing Social Benefits of Gardening.
Between health benefits, financial savings, emotional wellbeing, and more, gardening is the perfect hobby to enjoy solo or with someone you love.
If you liked this post, please share with a friend or give us some love on social. (BTW, speaking of, here are our favorite gardening social media sites to check out!)
We’d also love to hear about your favorite reason to enjoy gardening in the comments below.
06.28.22 – Updated to include specific gardening hobbies to try as well as more photos.
09.21.23 – Updated to add a section on how to start a gardening hobby. Also bolded headings.
09.22.23 – Added link to garden self care checklist.
