Gardening: Good for You and Your House

Gardening is good for you and for your house.

A beautifully landscaped property adds to the value of your home and improves your well-being.

Flowers make you feel happier, don't they?

There's a lot of talk lately about how we need to spend more time in nature. Just looking at nature has been shown to reduce stress and improve brain function. A beautiful garden is truly rewarding. Getting your hands dirty and doing the gardening yourself has even more benefits. You get outdoors and have some physical activity, and you feel connected to nature. You can plant fruits and vegetables to improve your diet. Here's an article from CNN Health that discusses the mental and physical benefits of gardening. You can practise Horticultural Therapy in your own backyard!

Not only is gardening good for body and soul, but it's also good for the bottom line. The value of your home depends on it. In fact, a study by Money Magazine has shown that good landscaping increases the value of a home and bad landscaping decreases the value of a home. Money spent on landscaping is very well spent indeed:  "landscaping can bring a recovery value of 100 to 200 per cent at selling time." Everyone talks about "curb appeal" and when they do, plants and flowers are always mentioned. Add a pot of flowers to the front step and you've got better curb appeal. Create a beautiful flower bed, and you get much, much more.

Your neighbours will benefit from your beautiful landscaping too. Their home value goes up with yours, and they will enjoy the increased natural elements in their lives.

Now is a great time to work on your landscaping. Garden Centres are full of plants and tools and most will even be open on the Victoria Day holiday so that you can take advantage of the perfect planting conditions.

Fireworks for Canada Day

I rode my bike up the Tom Taylor Trail, north of Davis where it's called the Mabel Davis Trail to see Newmarket's Canada Day Fireworks. Amazing view from across the river. And, so close you could smell the fireworks and feel the explosions in your chest.

My family had gone to a friend's house, which backs right on to the end of George Richardson Park where the fireworks are set. They reported an amazing experience too. Best ever.

It seemed to me too that this year's Canada Day fireworks were the longest and most spectacular ever. Maybe it was my awesome viewing spot, but it was really something!

I noticed that people were doing bigger and better fireworks of their own this year too. Not a recession year for the fireworks industry?

In fact, every weekend since Victoria Day in May we've been hearing fireworks going off in our neighbourhood. There is a law that prohibits using fireworks any time other than Victoria Day and Canada Day. It doesn't seem to be enforced. I wish it would be.

Please, people, use up all of your fireworks on the appropriate days! Obey the law. Don't set off fireworks any other time.

Fireworks are great twice a year. But, that's enough.