Experience the Joys of Gardening During the Pandemic

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we’re in a situation where we need to stay home and stay safe. Being confined to our homes is uncharted territory for a lot of us, however, it is what we have to do to ensure that we and our loved ones stay alive and healthy.

How do we then make the best use of the time? Well, getting out into the garden can be a good outlet for entertainment, relaxation, and satisfaction.

Whatever your experience level in gardening, there are a lot of great benefits you can get from either tending to a few pots in the garden or carrying out a creative gardening project even in smaller spaces. Gardening can help you reduce stress, anxiety, and depression; increase cognitive function and energy levels; and help you learn self-sufficiency while you also get to know more about the natural world.

Here are some great ideas that can take you close to your garden;

Crafting

A bit of crafting can stimulate and entertain the kids. You can also get some organic seeds and compost pellets into the mix. Gardening can be a fun, healthy, and cheap way for the kids to learn at home or in school. Research backs up the fact that children do better in school when they take up gardening. Many of them form a healthy living habit and even grow their own veggies.

Greenhouse Cleaning

There are benefits to cleaning the greenhouse such as more light for the growing seedlings and getting to remove harmful pests and pathogens. You’ll need a lot of energy for this one, in addition to your sponge, scrubbing brush, and hosepipe.

Mowing

All you need is good weather, your mower, and shears. Set the mower blades to around 25cm to prevent scalping, then trim the edges with a pair of shears.

Make a Nesting Habitat

You could build a nesting habitat for solitary bees like the leafcutter bees and red mason bees. Nesting habitats are also known as bee hotels. Attach your bee hotel to a south-east facing fence or wall, and watch out for bee activity all through the summer months.

Sowing Seeds

You can plant anything you like; such as sunflowers and cosmos to make your garden brighter, herbs you can use in cooking, or vegetables that can be used to make nutritious meals. When you sow seeds and watch the plants grow, it can be therapeutic and a great way to relieve stress while caring for your surroundings. A seed tray and propagator can be useful, but you can also use a pot filled with peat-free compost, covered with cling film or a clear plastic bag.

Build a Garden Pond

A pond is a great garden habitat for wildlife, attracting amphibians, birds, aquatic insects, and mammals. Try and get a pond liner and some pond plants. If you want the best variety of habitats, select an assortment of floating, oxygenating, and submerged plants. Digging a pond can be laborious but very rewarding. So, if you’ve not been to the gym in a while, then you should try this.

Terrace Cleaning

Use a pressure washer to blow away the grime on your terrace. You’ll need a kagoule, waterproof trousers, and wellies for this one!

Feed Birds

Bird feeding is great entertainment, more so during a lockdown. Put feeders in front of your window and watch as the birds feed and play. If you need to buy bird food, go for Sunflower hearts as they attract a wide range of bird species.

Get advice from a local professional gardener by heading to Google and searching on handyman near me or gardeners near me and ask some for advice.