Working Well Resources' Blog

Gardening is healthy for you! Image by Sue Shekut.

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

Gardening can be a big part of your wellness plan for several reasons:

1. You can grow your own herbs and vegetables for a healthy diet.

2. Being in nature can have a calming effect on your nervous system, reducing the negative effects of stress.

3. Focusing on gardening can also be meditative, in that it’s tough to garden well and pay attention to your cell phone, emails and other distractions. When I garden, it’s me and the dirt and the plants. I get a reprieve from work stressors and electronic interruptions as I plant, weed and tend to my garden.

4. When your garden is planted, several varieties of herbs can help control insects and keep your patio or garden area free of pests!

Ecochem has a great list of herbs and which insects they repel here.
From the Ecochem website::

• Basil controls flies and mosquitoes
• Datura controls Japanese beetles
• Garlic controls Japanese beetle, aphids, weevils, fruit tree borers, spider mites
• Rosemary controls cabbage moths, bean beetles, carrot flies, malaria mosquitoes
• Sage controls cabbage moths, carrot flies, ticks
• Spearmint controls ants, aphids
• Wormword controls animal intruders, cabbage worm butterflies, black flea beetles, malaria mosquitoes

For the complete list of herbs and the insects they control, click here.

Beautiful Chicago potted garden. Image by Sue Shekut.

Related articles

• Flowers, Herbs and One Vegetable to Plant to Repel Garden Pests (gomestic.com)
• Natural ways to keep bugs from destroying your garden (floweramaroses.com)
• Some bugs benefit gardens, eat other pests (knoxnews.com)
• Gardening – Do You Know The Good Guy’s From The Bad Guy’s? (survivalfarm.wordpress.com)
• 101 Ideas: A guide to good bugs (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Managing Pests and Diseases the Organic Way (ninedegreesbelowzero.wordpress.com)