gardening for the wealth of it

8/8/2019 Gardening for the Wealth of It

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www.simplegiftsfarm.com

January 2007

The Garden that isfinished is dead

H.E. Bates(1905-1974)

Gardening for the Wealth of It

This eBook Is Brought To You By

Gabor Olah

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Gardening for the Wealth of It

Copyright: Douglas Green 2008ISBN 978-1-897395-07-3www.simplegiftsfarm.com

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be usedor reproduced without the expresswritten permission of the author.

"Trees display the effects of breedingquite as much as horses, dogs, or men."

Jens JensenSiftings 1939
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To begin with, lets expand the

definition of wealth to include other

important aspects of our lives in

addition to the material comforts

that money brings.

Lets include such things as the

wealth that good health brings to our

enjoyment of financial security.

Lets include the contentment that a

spiritual dimension brings to our

enjoyment of the world around us.

These things are as important as

good health and finances.

When it comes right down to

it, we can say that the important

things in our lives make us

healthy,

wealthy and

wise.

And when you think of it, gardening

can work its magic in all three areas.

"Gardens werebefore gardeners,and but some hoursafter the earth"

Sir Thomas BrowneThe Garden ofCyrus 1658

Lets Expand the Definition ofWealth
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3/11


Wild gardeningsounds as attractivenowadays as a wildwoman or a wildparty.

Robin Lane FoxVariaions on aGarden 1986

Healthy

It is increasingly clear that

gardening is a healthy antidote to

the rigors of our society. In fact, it

has been an antidote right through

our recorded history. Here, in short

digestible form, are a few research

reports outlining some of the healthbenefits of gardening.

Bone density for women who did

yard work was equal to those who

did weight training, and higher than

in women who did jogging,

aerobics, or calisthenics.

Top reasons people garden: To be

outdoors (44%); to be around

beautiful things (42%); relax and

escape the pressures of everyday life

(39%); stay active and get exercise

(35%).

General research shows that a half

hour of gardening a day with its

stretching, bending, lifting is an

excellent workout equaling time

spent in more-fashionable fitness

centers. And youll know that

numerous studies have shown that

regular physical activity reduces

your risk of premature death, heart

disease, obesity, high blood

pressure, adult-onset diabetes,

osteoporosis, stroke, depression,

colon cancer among others.

For example, research

shows that when the

metabolic rate ismeasured, these activities

have the same level of

response:

Watering lawn or

garden; standing

or walking, sitting, knitting,

sewing have a relative value

of 1.5 over resting.

Walking and shopping have

a value of 2.3

Applying fertilizer

(walking), mowing lawn

(riding mower) value 2.5

Carrying or stacking wood;

clearing land; digging

sandbox; laying sod 5.0

Playing softball or baseball,

general; bicycling

(stationary), general 5.0
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Shoveling snow (by hand

shoveling); mowing lawn

(walk, hand

mower); gardening w/heavy

power tools has a value of 6.0

Aerobics and swimming

carry the same 6.0 value.

The Canadian Horticultural Therapy

Association points out that, people

working at computers in an office

with plants were 12% more

productive and less stressed than

people doing the same job in an

office without plants.

The Canadian Horticultural Therapy

Association also reports on a study

of British Columbia residences for

Alzheimer's patients showing that,

at residences with gardens, the rate

of violent incidents declined by 19%

over two years. Violence of patients

was significantly higher in

residences without gardens.

When it comes to the health of the

planet, gardens perform well.

Studies in Sacramento, California

point out, in net, mature urban

forest remove approximately 3.3

tons per acre of carbon each year

with an implied of $3.3 million

($0.55 per tree). Carbon reduction

by Sacramento's urban

forest offsets the total

amount emitted as a by-

product human

consumption by 1.8percent".

A fast-growing tree

absorbs up to 48 pounds

of carbon dioxide a year;

that adds up to ten tons

per acre of treesenough

to offset the carbon dioxide

produced by driving a car 21,000

miles. Feed your young treescompost in the fall and watch them

both grow and remove carbon

dioxide from your air.

There are reports that simply by

looking at trees and plants, a person

can lower blood pressure, relieve

muscular tension and reduce stresslevels.

Given the above, is it any surprise

that one study concludes: "Those

who are involved in gardening find

Plans should bemade on the groundto fit the place andnot the place madeto suit some planout of a book.

William RobinsonThe GardenBeautiful 1907

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life more satisfying and feel they

have more positive things happening

in their lives.

So that for all things out of a

garden, either of sallads or fruits, a

poor man will eat better, that hasone of his own, than a rich man that

has none. And this is all I think of,

Necessary and Useful to be known

upon this subject.

Sir William Temple

Of Gardening 1685

When smiling lawnsand tasteful cottagesbegin to embellish acountry, we knowthat order andculture areestablished.

Andrew JacksonDowningTreatise onLandscapeGardening 1841

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$ When you get down toit, very few of us garden to make

money. But isnt it nice that if you

do garden or landscape your

property, youll find it a very good

investment.

$ The Galluporganization tells us that

Landscaping can add between 7 and

15 percent to a homes value so if

you understand the market value of

your home or rental property, then

you can quickly determine how

much to spend on this property and

what the return will be.

$ If youre concernedabout making the landscaping

investment, Money Magazine tells

us that landscaping can bring a

recovery value of 100 to 200 percent

at selling time. Compare this to

kitchen remodeling at a 75 to 125

percent recovery rate, bathroom

remodeling a 20 to 120 percent

recovery rate, and adding a

swimming pool a 20 to 50 percent

recovery rate. A prudent investor is

not going to add a swimming pool to

increase the value of the property.

$ Clemson University in theirstudies showed that homes with

"excellent" landscaping

can expect a sale price

about 6 to 7 percent

higher than equivalenthouses with "good"

landscaping. Even

improving the

landscaping from

average" to "good" can

result in a 4 to 5 percent

increase. This is good

news if youre in the selling end of

the real estate transaction and

Trendnomics reported that 99% of

real estate appraisers agreed the

landscaping adds value.

$ Many of these resultshave been reported in the general

media but you may not know that in

one study, 83% of Realtors believe

that mature trees have a "strong or

moderate impact" on the salability

of homes listed for under $150,000;on homes over $250,000, this

perception increases to 98%.

(American Forests)

Take thy plasticspade, It theypencil; they thyseeds, thy plants,They are theycolours.

William MasonThe English Garden1782

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$ In other words, if abuyer is spending over a quarter

million dollars on a house, they will

be positively influenced by the

existence (or lack) of mature trees.

People unconsciously put a value on

landscaping and trees on a property.Not only that but poor landscape

design was reported to reduce

property values by up to 10 percent

according to the 1994 study

published in theJournal of

Environmental Horticulture.

$ Not only is there a realestate investment value to

landscaping, there is also reductionof current operating costs value.

$ Landscaping canreduce air conditioning costs by up

to 50 percent and internal

temperatures by 9F. by shading the

windows and walls of a home

according to the American Public

Power Association. The value of

this tree is currently $273.00 in air

conditioning, air and noise pollution

as well as erosion and storm control

but this value will increase as power

costs escalate.

$ Tree roots hold theground and break air flow; this

blunts the effects of

storms and cold winds

and individual mature

trees are routinelyevaluated between one

and ten thousand dollars

for court cases.

$ The USEnvironmental Protection

Agency says that trees can

reduce noise by up to 50 percent and

can mask unwanted noises with

pleasant sounds (mind you,sometimes bird calls at 5am on a

sunny spring morning might be

unwanted as well)

$ The U.S. Dept ofEnergy points out that just three

trees, properly situated around the

house can save an average

household $100 to $250 in heating

and cooling costs.

$ What does that meanfor the landscaping and home

construction industry? In 2002, the

Underlying all thegreatest gardens arecertain principles ofcomposition whichremain unchangedbecause they arerooted in the naturallaws of the universe.

Sylvia CroweGarden Design1959

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spending on landscaping (both

design and installation) reached US$

14.3 billion. Given the return on

your investment, this only makes

sense to focus on things that will

give you a good return on your

investment. The longer you keep

that tree growing, the more valuableit becomes.

Landscape investments are

recovered fully, and sometimes

doubled, via increasing real estate

values.

Wall Street Journal

A Gardiner is never rich, yet he is

ever raking together.

Wye Saltonstall

The Gardiner

Pictures Drawn Forth in Characters

1635

A grass blade's noeasier to make thanan oak

James Russel Lowell1819-1891

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Our societies developed in the face

of nature and the roots of our

accepted society behaviors are

deeply planted in that soil of legend

and myth. In many ways, our

gardens reflect those myths and

legends by taming nature; turning it

into a manicured backyard garden.

Many of us will never visit a truly

wild place; a place where man has

not stepped before. The closest we

come on a daily basis to nature is in

our backyards; and that backyard is

our symbolic nature our personal

wild space.

So the question then is, Does

gardening bring us closer to nature

and wisdom or are those that are

already wise gardening ?

Here are a few things for you to

consider when thinking about your

gardens.

Researchers found that accessibilityto nature was the most important

factorafter the marital rolein

life satisfaction. Yard care and

gardening activities develop

individuals, strengthen families, and

builds communities. Relf, D. The

pyscho-social benefits of green

spaces. Grounds Maintenance.

March, 1996

Indeed many writers

famous for their

accessibility to naturehad something to say

about gardening. Henry

David Thoreau said,

Gardening is civil and

social, but it wants the

vigor and freedom of the

forest and the outlaw.

What a wonderful sentiment that lets

us have the organization within ourgarden but understanding that within

a heartbeat, nature can deal out

some interesting consequences of

that organization.

John Ruskin, in his 1851 classic,

The Stones of Venice wrote,

There is material enough in a

single flower for the ornament of a

score of cathedrals. Touring thecathedrals of Europe will indeed

show how architects borrowed from

the lore and the symbolism of the

garden to decorate their houses of

worship.

Go forwarde in thename of God,graffe, set, plant,and nourishe uptrees in every cornerof your grounde

John GerardHerball or GeneralHistorie of Plantes(1597)

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Gardening teaches us about life and

allows us to reflect on our life in

metaphor. Abraham Lincoln

1809-1865 said, Die when I may, I

want it said of me by those who

know me best, that I always plucked

a thistle and planted a flower where

I thought a flower would grow.

And we learn our place in the

scheme of nature while gardening.

Geoffrey Charlesworth writing The

Opinionated Gardener in 1988

wrote, By the time you have grown

two thousand species you could

believe that you had exhausted

Natures imaginative variability; by

the time you have grown fivethousand you realize you never

will. This from a gardener who

easily started 1000 varieties from

seed each year.

Russel Page in The Education of a

Gardener was clear that one has to

focus all of ones attention to create

a great garden, So with a garden: if

you want a lawn, go all out for it.Make everything else subsidiary to

the lawnness of your lawn.

Any planting that enhances the

quality you are trying to achieve is

good. Any that detracts or confuses

is bad This directness and

simplicity demands courage and

discipline. All the good

gardens I have ever seen,

all the garden scenes that

have left me satisfied,

were the result of justsuch reticence: a simple

idea developed as far as

it could be.

Ive heard it said that

business and wealth are much like

that. One has to go all out for it.

with the same determination as onegardens. And one uses advisors in

the same way one would use a head

gardener to achieve a measured

and profitable goal in health,

wealth and wisdom.

We let them fight itout

Wolfgang Oehme -garden designerwhen asked what hedoes when his grassdesigns start tomature and growinto each other.

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The National Gardening Association

in the U.S. does a survey every year

that is eagerly used by the

horticultural industry in its planning.

The 2005 report lists the top 10

reasons people garden in the United

States: Note that 91 million

households participated in lawn and

garden activities in 2005 which is

83% of all US households. This

was an increase of 9 million

households or 11% from 2004 and

the highest level of participation

seen in the past 5 years

Top 10 Benefits of Gardening

from the National Gardening

Assoc.

69% said - Gardening is a way for

me to decorate, beautify my home

64% - Food gardening is a

way to grow fresh and

nutritious food

62% - Gardening helps me

relax

62% - Gardening makes my

outdoor space more

liveable

57% - Gardening adds curb

appeal to my home

56% - Gardening

is a great form of

exercise

55% - Gardening

helps me connect

with nature

51% - Gardening

adds to the value

of my home real

estate investment

51% - Gardening is a way

for me to be creative

44% - Gardening is a great

educational tool for children

Gardening is indeed for the wealth

of it and I invite you to be wealthy

in ways that go beyond the mere

accumulation of financial rewards.

Enjoy your own garden it is a fine

thing.

Transplanting treesis agitating work.Recollecting thedislocation anddistress a humancan feel at beingtransplanted in anew scene, onecannot helpworrying when onemoves a tree.

Clare LeightonFour Hedges 1935

Wise

gardening for the wealth of it

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