GARDENING

January 2007

The Garden that is

finished is dead
Gardening for the Wealth of It H.E. Bates
(1905-1974)

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Gardening for the Wealth of It

Copyright: Douglas Green 2008

ISBN 978-1-897395-07-3
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All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used
or reproduced without the express "Trees display the effects of breeding
written permission of the author.
quite as much as horses, dogs, or men."
Jens Jensen
Siftings 1939

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 GARDENING FOR THE WEALTH OF IT! PAGE 2

Let’s Expand the Definition of

Wealth
To begin with, let’s expand the
definition of wealth to include other
important aspects of our lives in
addition to the material comforts
that money brings.

Let’s include such things as the

wealth that good health brings to our
enjoyment of financial security.

Let’s 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 "Gardens were
things in our lives make us before gardeners,
healthy, and but some hours
wealthy and after the earth"
wise.
Sir Thomas Browne
And when you think of it, gardening The Garden of
can work its magic in all three areas. Cyrus 1658

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GARDENING FOR THE WEALTH OF IT! PAGE 3

Healthy

It is increasingly clear that pressure, adult-onset diabetes,

gardening is a healthy antidote to osteoporosis, stroke, depression,
the rigors of our society. In fact, it colon cancer among others.
has been an antidote right through
our recorded history. Here, in short For example, research
digestible form, are a few research shows that when the
reports outlining some of the health metabolic rate is
benefits of gardening. measured, these activities
have the same level of
Bone density for women who did response:
yard work was equal to those who
did weight training, and higher than Watering lawn or
in women who did jogging, garden; standing
aerobics, or calisthenics. or walking, sitting, knitting,
sewing have a relative value
Top reasons people garden: To be of 1.5 over resting.
outdoors (44%); to be around
beautiful things (42%); relax and Walking and shopping have
escape the pressures of everyday life a value of 2.3
(39%); stay active and get exercise
(35%). Applying fertilizer “Wild gardening
(walking), mowing lawn sounds as attractive
(riding mower) value 2.5 nowadays as a wild
General research shows that a half woman or a wild
hour of gardening a day with its Carrying or stacking wood; party.”
stretching, bending, lifting is an clearing land; digging
excellent workout equaling time sandbox; laying sod 5.0 Robin Lane Fox
spent in more-fashionable fitness Variaions on a
centers. And you’ll know that Playing softball or baseball, Garden 1986
numerous studies have shown that general; bicycling
regular physical activity reduces (stationary), general 5.0
your risk of premature death, heart
disease, obesity, high blood

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GARDENING FOR THE WEALTH OF IT!
Healthy
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
PAGE 4
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 1.8
percent".
A fast-growing tree
absorbs up to 48 pounds
of carbon dioxide a year;
that adds up to ten tons
per acre of trees—enough
to offset the carbon dioxide
produced by driving a car 21,000
miles. Feed your young trees
compost in the fall and watch them
both grow and remove carbon Plans should be
dioxide from your air. made on the ground
to fit the place and
not the place made
to suit some plan
There are reports that simply by out of a book.
looking at trees and plants, a person
can lower blood pressure, relieve William Robinson
muscular tension and reduce stress The Garden
levels. Beautiful 1907
Given the above, is it any surprise
that one study concludes: "Those
who are involved in gardening find
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GARDENING FOR THE WEALTH OF IT! PAGE 5

Healthy

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 has
one 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 lawns

and tasteful cottages
begin to embellish a
country, we know
that order and
culture are
established.

Andrew Jackson
Downing
Treatise on
Landscape
Gardening 1841

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GARDENING FOR THE WEALTH OF IT!
Wealthy
$ When you get down to
it, very few of us garden to make
money. But isn’t it nice that if you
do garden or landscape your
property, you’ll find it a very good
investment.
$ The Gallup
organization tells us that
Landscaping can add between 7 and
15 percent to a home’s 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 you’re concerned
about 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.
PAGE 6
$ Clemson University in their
studies showed that homes with
"excellent" landscaping
can expect a sale price
about 6 to 7 percent
higher than equivalent
houses 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 you’re in the selling end of
the real estate transaction and
Trendnomics reported that 99% of
real estate appraisers agreed the
landscaping adds value. Take thy plastic
spade, It they
$ Many of these results
pencil; they thy
seeds, thy plants,
have been reported in the general
They are they
media but you may not know that in
colours.
one study, 83% of Realtors believe
that mature trees have a "strong or
William Mason
moderate impact" on the salability
The English Garden
of homes listed for under $150,000;
1782
on homes over $250,000, this
perception increases to 98%.
(American Forests)
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GARDENING FOR THE WEALTH OF IT!
Wealthy
$ In other words, if a
buyer 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 the Journal of
Environmental Horticulture.
$ Not only is there a real
estate investment value to
landscaping, there is also reduction
of current operating costs value.
$ Landscaping can
reduce air conditioning costs by up
to 50 percent and internal
temperatures by 9°F. 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.
PAGE 7
$ Tree roots hold the
ground and break air flow; this
blunts the effects of
storms and cold winds
and individual mature
trees are routinely
evaluated between one
and ten thousand dollars
for court cases.
$ The US
Environmental 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
Underlying all the
unwanted as well)
greatest gardens are
certain principles of
$ The U.S. Dept of composition which
Energy points out that just three remain unchanged
trees, properly situated around the because they are
house can save an average rooted in the natural
household $100 to $250 in heating laws of the universe.
and cooling costs.
Sylvia Crowe
Garden Design
$ What does that mean 1959
for the landscaping and home
construction industry? In 2002, the
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GARDENING FOR THE WEALTH OF IT! PAGE 8

Wealthy

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 valuable
it becomes.

Landscape investments are

recovered fully, and sometimes
doubled, via increasing real estate
values.

Wall Street Journal

A grass blade's no
easier to make than
A Gardiner is never rich, yet he is an oak
ever raking together.
James Russel Lowell
Wye Saltonstall 1819-1891
The Gardiner
Pictures Drawn Forth in Characters
1635

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GARDENING FOR THE WEALTH OF IT!
Wise
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 accessibility
to nature was the most important
factor—after the marital role—in
life satisfaction. Yard care and
gardening activities develop
individuals, strengthen families, and
PAGE 9
builds communities. Relf, D. The
pyscho-social benefits of green
spaces. Grounds Maintenance.
March, 1996
Indeed many writers
famous for their
accessibility to nature
had 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 our
garden but understanding that within
a heartbeat, nature can deal out Go forwarde in the
some interesting consequences of name of God,
that organization. graffe, set, plant,
and nourishe up
John Ruskin, in his 1851 classic, trees in every corner
“The Stones of Venice” wrote, of your grounde
“There is material enough in a
single flower for the ornament of a John Gerard
score of cathedrals.” Touring the Herball or General
cathedrals of Europe will indeed Historie of Plantes
show how architects borrowed from (1597)
the lore and the symbolism of the
garden to decorate their houses of
worship.
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GARDENING FOR THE WEALTH OF IT!
Wealthy
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
Nature’s imaginative variability; by
the time you have grown five
thousand 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 one’s 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
PAGE 10
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 just
such reticence: a simple
idea developed as far as
it could be.”
I’ve heard it said that
business and wealth are much like
that. One has to “go all out for it.”
with the same determination as one
gardens. And one uses advisors in
the same way one would use a head We let them fight it
gardener – to achieve a measured out
and profitable goal – in health,
wealth and wisdom. Wolfgang Oehme -
garden designer
when asked what he
does when his grass
designs start to
mature and grow
into each other.
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GARDENING FOR THE WEALTH OF IT! PAGE 11

Wise

The National Gardening Association 57% - Gardening adds curb

in the U.S. does a survey every year appeal to my home
that is eagerly used by the
horticultural industry in its planning. 56% - Gardening
The 2005 report lists the top 10 is a great form of
reasons people garden in the United exercise
States: Note that 91 million
households participated in lawn and 55% - Gardening
garden activities in 2005 which is helps me connect
83% of all US households. This with nature
was an increase of 9 million
households or 11% from 2004 and 51% - Gardening
the highest level of participation adds to the value
seen in the past 5 years of my home real
estate investment
Top 10 Benefits of Gardening
from the National Gardening 51% - Gardening is a way
Assoc. for me to be creative
Transplanting trees
69% said - Gardening is a way for 44% - Gardening is a great
is agitating work.
me to decorate, beautify my home educational tool for children
Recollecting the
dislocation and
64% - Food gardening is a
distress a human
way to grow fresh and Gardening is indeed for the wealth
can feel at being
nutritious food of it and I invite you to be “wealthy”
transplanted in a
in ways that go beyond the mere
new scene, one
62% - Gardening helps me accumulation of financial rewards.
cannot help
relax
worrying when one
Enjoy your own garden – it is a fine
moves a tree.
62% - Gardening makes my thing.
outdoor space more
Clare Leighton
liveable
Four Hedges 1935

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