Benefits of sharing your garden
Gardens can be great for the environment and for wildlife – and they’re good for people too
Gardening is a rewarding and fulfilling activity that provides a wide range of benefits for individuals, communities, and the environment. Here are some of the key benefits of gardening:
Half an hour gardening burns as many calories as some sports
Benefits to you
- Save money on food shopping
- Growing your own really is worthwhile: you’ll have plenty of fruit and veg
- Have fun and connect with a neighbour
- Gardening can help to keep you fit and healthy
- Reduce food waste by only picking fresh what you need
"We share ideas, tips, seeds, cuttings and apples - and the grass and hedge cutting, as well as our shared moans and delights with the weather and our horticulture failures and successes"
Sarah Layland
On the benefits of a shared garden arrangement at Pure Moves a pilates and wellness centre in Frome
Benefits to your garden
- Having a tidy garden makes you feel good.
- That great feeling that you are helping a neighbour.
- Sharing in the growing and learning and hopefully if all goes well a harvest.
Safer streets: Cleaner, greener environments have been linked to lower crime rates and reduced anti-social behaviour
Benefits to the community
- Food security, share in the harvest (you can even grow edibles that look fantastic in a normal garden borders or front gardens)
- Mental health – Give people access to green outside space
- Reduce loneliness – encourage neighbours connecting over a healthy positive activity
- Physical health – Gardening for half an hour burns as many calories as some sports
- Intergenerational – invigorate and energise older adults as well as reducing the likelihood of depression and loneliness
- Green space can play an important role in fostering social interactions and promoting a sense of community – World Health Organisation
Benefits to the planet – find some useful tips from RHS below:
- Caring for the soil – Mulching, using your own or peat free composting
- Storing and using rain water
- Reduce your carbon footprint
- Provide vital habitats for wildlife
- avoiding using harmful chemicals, reducing plastic use and learning to work with nature
Join our community
Who are you?
I'm a frustrated gardener
Would you love to get gardening but don’t have access to a green space?
I have a wild garden
Do you have a garden or a green space that you would love to share with someone?
