— by Akshaya Iyer

A perfect way to enjoy quarantine summer – surround yourself with the smell of fragrant flowers, the heat warming your skin, and the sight of fresh fruits! This is a great activity because it’s fun, healthy, and is a good way to spend time outside in the summer.

Gardening is healthy because it can help to boost moods, gives exposure to Vitamin D, and it makes you stay active. It keeps you moving: from mowing the lawn to planting flowers and watering the plants! In addition, gardening can help to relieve stress because it can take your mind off of other things in life and switch your focus to the beautiful masterpiece that you’ve created. When you see your flowers blooming, it’s rewarding to see that after you put all your time into it, the end result is beautiful. Finally, the sun exposure ensures a daily dose of Vitamin D which most people in colder places are deficient of.

It also gets you to be creative,  because you get to pick the way your garden looks by choosing what you want to plant – vegetables, fruits, or flowers. Planting fresh vegetables and fruits encourage you to eat healthier because of the motivation from your homegrown garden.

One of the best types of flowers to maintain is marigolds because they come in bright colors such as yellow and orange and they’re easy to maintain. Marigolds only need to be watered two to three times a week and they bloom rapidly. Another good type of flower to plant is roses. Roses are very beautiful although they can require more maintenance. To get many buds to bloom, they have to be fed with rose food once a week and watered three to four times a week. 

Overall, gardening is a fun, rewarding, and healthy activity to do in the summer and a way to get creative and keep busy during the pandemic. Enjoy your summer, stay healthy, stay active!