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Update 7/5/05
• Hypnosis can help smokers quit
• Healthy eating doesn’t have to include meat
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• Determination is woman’s tonic for adversity
• Many don’t know mental illness treatable, beatable
• Stretching can help keep sports-loving youngsters injury free
• Gardening’s rewards reaped even by beginners
• Assertiveness yields self-respect, respect from others
• Teaching children restraint can help fight obesity
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Gardening’s rewards reaped even by beginners
By Kelly Smith
Special to The Times

Tending to a garden can have therapeutic effects on the mind and the body and also is a good form of exercise.

“When you put your hands in the dirt you’re the nearest to God you could ever be,” said Ruth Detlor, 76, president of the Muskingum Garden Club.

“If you have a garden, you are always working in it,” she said. “There’s always a weed to be pulled or a dead flower bud to be cut. There’s a lot of exercise in it.

You get a lot of stretching.”

This is important for older people who often do not stretch enough, she said.

Tim Spanner, 49, retail manager at Greenleaf Landscaping in Reno, agrees gardening is a calming, soothing activity.

“To successfully raise something is a real relaxing thing,” he said. “One of the main things is not to take it too seriously. If it gets to the point that you are stressing over the garden or flower beds, you are missing the point.”

Gardening is good for people who rarely get outside for their workday.

“So many people who work in offices, or school teachers, instead of drinking alcohol or taking pills, they garden,” Spanner said.

Those who have little or no experience with gardening can easily begin their own vegetable or flower garden. There are a few ideas to keep in mind when starting and caring for your garden.

Good soil is essential to a healthy garden. Before planting, Spanner suggests that you add some sort of organic material, like natural fertilizer, to the soil.

“Good soil is priceless to a gardener,” he said. Starting with bad soil will cause more problems down the road, which brings unnecessary stress.

Gardeners should also keep in mind the different needs of each type of flower, plant or vegetable, Detlor said.

Some flowers need just a little watering; others need regular douses of water.

Some prefer the shade, others the sun. Some will flourish only with certain types of fertilizer. Do some research before planting.

The frequency of watering and fertilizing also depend on the climate and whether it is a wet or dry season.

“You play it by eye most of the time,” said Spanner. “Most plants don’t like to be saturated.”

Water the soil and let it dry out before watering again.

A good cost-cutting tip when planning a garden is to plant vegetables, such as rhubarb or red lettuce, in a flower garden, Spanner said. Not only will you have a multipurpose garden, but the big leaves of the vegetables take up more space and look attractive as well.

For those who have a limited amount of space, one of the most popular trends is container gardens, he said. A 14-inch by 16-inch container can be used to raise flowers, vegetables or herbs.

“You want to plant things that are pleasing to the eye and are easy to take care of, if you are a beginner,” said Detlor. Daisies and geraniums are two flowers Detlor suggested for those just starting out.