The Post-Pandemic Gardening Frontier
Written by Eddie Dai, Giving Grove Intern
An Old Hobby Turns New Again
Over the past year of pandemic-driven confinement, people across the world turned to new hobbies to occupy their newfound free time. For some people, that new hobby was baking homemade sourdough or learning to paint. Many, however, tried filling their time and their yards by testing the greenness of their thumbs. Interest in buying and caring for plants saw a staggering increase last year, and for good reason.
The sale of flowering plants, houseplants, edible plants, and more soared last year and is projected to continue thriving over the next few years. A similar trend can be seen on social media with plant-centric pages and creators gaining massive followings on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. On Google, searches for topics like gardening and houseplants during spring of 2020 saw peaks that tower over searches in previous years.
This drastic rise in plant sales and interest is far from inexplicable. Apart from just being a way to occupy time and decorate homes, people tended to their plants as a way to bring purpose, fulfillment, and joy to their lives in a year dominated by fear and worry. The scientific evidence supporting this reaches back decades. Studies have proven plants make people feel calmer, reduce stress, improve productivity, and more. From a more anecdotal perspective, the acts of gardening or caring for houseplants can offer a sense of stability and control. With stress and uncertainty abound over the past year, a grounding hobby is just what many needed.
Fruit Tree Growing As Pandemic Respite
With new and reinvigorated gardeners, homes and yards across the country are looking greener than ever. But what about our cities and neighborhoods? Another trend highlighted by the pandemic is the lack of greenspace in communities throughout America. As indoor entertainment and recreation was largely off limits, many people turned to the outdoors for leisure and stress relief. According to University of Chicago psychologist Marc Berman, the pandemic showed us that many cities just don’t have enough greenspace to offer the crucial mental health benefits of plants for their residents. One of his suggestions? Plant more trees.
With the care of philodendra, succulents, and ivies mastered, the next great frontier for many home gardeners could very well be to plant a tree. While indoor houseplants are powerful in their ability to improve our health and mood, growing plants and especially trees outdoors offer a whole new list of benefits. Along with mental health boosting characteristics similar to houseplants, trees push people to spend more time outside, offer shade and cool temperatures on hot days, improve air quality, and can bear delicious, healthy fruit.
Yet, for those living in big cities, in apartments, or with limited lawn space, planting trees may not be very practical or even possible. As COVID cases decline and the United States inches closer to herd immunity, community gardening offers a solution. Many gardeners enjoy the solace of tending to plants on their own, but something that few home gardeners have experienced is the feeling of gardening with others. Planting a neighborhood orchard or trees throughout your city creates a shared investment of time and care between yourself and others that fosters neighborliness and a sense of community. After a pandemic where we spent so much time in isolation, we’re all probably longing for this feeling of togetherness.
Community orchards, like those planted by The Giving Grove, are turning these potentials of trees into real impacts felt by neighborhoods across the country. If you have a newly discovered green thumb, don’t be afraid to cover it with a glove, pick up a shovel, and plant a tree—you might just feel happier afterwards.
For helpful how-to guides on tree planting and maintenance, click here. If you enjoyed this blog post, consider subscribing to our quarterly newsletter, The Serving!