We have come up with a list of 5 simple things you can be doing in your yard and garden right now, during the quarantine. With all the health benefits gained from yard work & gardening, really all of us would benefit from time spent outside. Check out some of things you can being doing, no matter your level of gardening experience and how you can enjoy the benefits now and later.
1. Clean Up
Even if you don’t have a beautifully landscaped yard, a prolific vegetable or flower garden, you can still keep your outdoor space nice and tidy. This may seem like a daunting task, but set a timer for 20 min and tell yourself that you are going work outside until the timer is done. You will likely find that you have a clearer head than when you started and may even restart the timer for another 20 minutes.
Things You Can Do:
- Rake flower beds
- Weed
- Clean out weeds along your sidewalk
- Prune bushes
2. Plant Seeds
If you find that you have more time on your hands (🙋) now might be the time to build that raised bed you have been thinking about or cultivate an area of your yard and plant some seeds. There are so many health benefits to enjoy when gardening becomes part of your routine; increased confidence, heart health, reduced stress, mental health, better sleep, increased hand strength to name a few.
Once you have created a space to grow either by building a raised bed or creating a space in your yard, plant some seeds. Knowing what garden zone you live in is important to know what to plant when, so check out this link from Urban Farmer to find your garden zone and get to planting.
3. Order Product From Your Local Garden Center
This is hard time for so many small business owners, and supporting them is more important than ever. You may not know, but your local garden center might be offering curbside pickup! Checkout out your favorite garden center’s website or give them a call and see if they are offering this service.
I have made several trips to Ritters, one of my favorite local garden centers, and they have been great to provide me with potting soil, seeds, trellises for my raised beds and more! I have all I need to get outside and get to gardening.
4. Plant Some Herbs
If getting outside and enjoying the benefits of gardening sounds appealing to you, but you are not quite ready to commit to a vegetable garden, give herbs a try. Pick out some cute ceramic pots, make sure they have a drainage whole, and pick out 2-3 herbs that you enjoy. I would recommend buying herb starts rather than growing from seed. Next grab some some basic well draining potting soil and begin to enjoy the benefits of garden to table right away!
5. Plant Some Flower Pots
Are you someone who likes to have fresh flowers in the house? Then maybe you would also enjoy fresh flowers while sitting out on your deck or front porch! If your weather permits, planting fresh flowers outside might be just what you need right now. Pick out a pot (again, with a drainage hole is ideal) and measure the diameter. Determine where you would like to place your pot, sun or shade works, there are gorgeous blooms for both. Then give your local garden center a call, tell them the diameter of your pot, how many hours of sunlight you expect it to receive, your budget, then let them pick out some beauties for you to plant at home!
