{"id":19042,"date":"2026-04-27T18:21:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/?p=19042"},"modified":"2026-04-27T18:21:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:21:55","slug":"resources-you-can-use-gardening-and-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/2026\/04\/27\/resources-you-can-use-gardening-and-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Resources You Can Use: Gardening and Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The old adage goes, \u201cApril showers bring May flowers.\u201d So it\u2019s time to get out in the garden to help those <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/watersense\/what-plant\">flowers and vegetables and herbs and greenery<\/a> grow.<\/p>\n<p>Gardening can positively affect your health and wellbeing by getting your body moving and contributing to a healthy environment. Learn more about the health benefits of gardening, ways to stay happy and healthy, and more with these resources.<\/p>\n<h2>Health Benefits of Gardening<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nia.nih.gov\/health\/exercise-and-physical-activity\/three-types-exercise-can-improve-your-health-and-physical\">National Institute on Aging recommends three types of exercise<\/a> to help stay fit, aerobic, muscle strengthening and balance. Good news, gardening and yardwork can be a part of both aerobic exercise and muscle strengthening exercises.<\/p>\n<p>Learn more about the health benefits of gardening:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org\/hometown-health\/speaking-of-health\/dig-into-the-benefits-of-gardening\">Dig into the Benefits of Gardening (Mayo Clinic)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/health\/healthy-living\/health-benefits-of-gardening\/\">5 Secret Health Benefits of Gardening (AARP)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Stay Healthy Outside<\/h2>\n<p>Being outside is good for our health\u2014fresh air, Vitamin D from the sun, relaxing with nature. While we\u2019re outside, working in the garden, it\u2019s important to be aware of possible health hazards, especially in the summer sun and heat.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/sunexposure.html\">Sun Exposure (MedlinePlus)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/dehydration.html\">Stay Hydrated (MedlinePlus)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/insectbitesandstings.html)\">Insect Bites and Stings (MedlinePlus)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Gardening and yard work can be great exercise, but it also involves a lot of repetitive motions that can lead to sore and strained muscles and joints. Learn about some of the health issues related to repetitive motion and how to address them.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/ency\/article\/003172.htm\">Elbow tendinitis (MedlinePlus)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/carpaltunnelsyndrome.html\">Carpal tunnel syndrome (MedlinePlus)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/sprainsandstrains.html\">Strains and sprains (MedlinePlus)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/healthy-lifestyle\/adult-health\/in-depth\/back-pain\/art-20546859\">Back Exercises in 15 minutes a day (Mayo Clinic)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Gardening is for Everyone<\/h2>\n<p>Gardening can involve a lot of bending, twisting, and lifting that may be hard or impossible for some people. But there are ways to modify the practice to make it more accessible.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christopherreeve.org\/todays-care\/living-with-paralysis\/health\/staying-active\/gardening-from-a-wheelchair\/\">Gardening from a Wheelchair (Christopher and Dana Reeves Foundation)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/home-living\/accessible-gardening-tips\/\">5 Tips for Accessible Gardening (AARP)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Gardening has particular benefits for aging helping to keep the body and mind active but there are also specific challenges for older adults.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/states\/maryland\/gardening-for-the-elderly\/\">Gardening for the Elderly (AARP)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nia.nih.gov\/health\/exercise-and-physical-activity\/safety-tips-exercising-outdoors-older-adults\">Exercising Outdoors: Safety Tips for Older Adults (National Institute on Aging)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Build Lifelong Learning in the Garden<\/h2>\n<p>Gardening can help teach responsibility, math (how far apart do those plants need to be planted), science and more. Get started with these resources:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nnlm.gov\/resources\/reading-club\/book\/braiding-sweetgrass-young-adults\">NNLM Reading Club: Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/scistarter.org\/finder?phrase=garden&amp;events=true&amp;projects=true&amp;active=true\">SciStarter citizen science projects that can be done in the garden<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And check with your local public library\u2014their library of things may have tools that will make gardening easier to manage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The old adage goes, \u201cApril showers bring May flowers.\u201d So it\u2019s time to get out in the garden to help those flowers and vegetables and herbs and greenery grow. Gardening can positively affect your health and wellbeing by getting your body moving and contributing to a healthy environment. Learn more about the health benefits of&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/2026\/04\/27\/resources-you-can-use-gardening-and-health\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1173,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[242],"tags":[86,600,394],"class_list":["post-19042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-environmental-health","tag-gardening","tag-resources"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19043,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19042\/revisions\/19043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.nnlm.gov\/region_7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}