When: June 4 to 10
Get ready to dig into the dirt, soak up the sunshine, and embrace your inner botanist because it’s time for National Garden Week!
Whether you’re a seasoned horticulturist or a serial plant killer (RIP, dear houseplants), this is the week that celebrates all things leafy, flowery, and oh-so-Instagrammable.
But what’s the big deal about National Garden Week, you ask? Well, my budding friends, it’s a whole seven days dedicated to the wonders of gardening, filled with fascinating stories of secret gardens, plant rescues, and the undeniable joy of seeing that first little sprout poking through the soil.
So, why should you keep reading? Because we’ve got your green thumb covered with tips, tricks, and tales that will have you itching to grab a trowel and join the gardening revolution. Get ready to bloom like never before!
Short answer: National Garden Week is a week-long celebration of all things gardening, packed with inspiring stories and practical tips to unleash your inner green thumb.
Strolling through a beautiful place or spending quality time in green spaces is calming, which can help lower stress and decrease blood pressure. Vitamin D from the sunshine helps boost your immune system.
What Is National Gardening Week?
In the USA, National Garden Week (the official name) was founded by National Garden Clubs, which celebrates this beautiful time of year during the first full week of June every year.
The Royal Horticultural Society honors a similar holiday in the UK at the end of April / beginning of May each year.
There’s even a National Gardening Day in the US, that signals the day of the year when it’s safe to start prepping your garden for the growing season. It’s on April 14 (I know – all these garden holidays are hard to keep track of!).
National Gardening Week is not only a great time to celebrate nature, it’s a time to promote awareness of gardening and Earth’s natural resources, it’s also a good opportunity to educate people on how to garden.
As any gardener worth their spade will tell you, gardening isn’t as simple as throwing a few plants into dirt and reaping the harvest, so it’s great to have some gardening education opportunities during these special days.
Checking with your local county or looking through local social media posts can be a great way to find an educational program in your area. Local master gardeners are also a wonderful resource for their fellow gardeners.
There are plenty of ways to take part in celebrating gardens and gardening. This week you could:
- visit a botanical garden near you if you are in or near a big city
- search for tours of private gardens that may be open to the public during this week
- start a vegetable garden with plants from your local home store that are already partially grown (a great way to cultivate a healthy lifestyle is by eating fresh veggies from your own garden!)
- add some medicinal plants to your garden
- plant your own summer garden with colorful annuals like petunias, begonias and other heat-tolerant flowers
- head over to YouTube and visit some of the world’s most gorgeous gardens virtually (or try this gardening blog)
- Take a trip to your local nursery and pick out some new plant varieties for your garden.
- Give your garden a good spring cleaning. Pull out any weeds, rake up leaves, and add new mulch to your beds.
- Invite your friends and neighbors over for a garden party. Serve some refreshments and enjoy the company of others who love gardening as much as you do
- Bring the outside inside with a healthy new house plant or a beautiful flower arrangement
- start a super easy wildflower garden (see next section).
Easy Wildflowers In Raised Beds
For seniors who really can’t get out to grow vegetables or do a lot of garden care (maybe they are housebound or are physically unable to rake, hoe, or weed), there is good news – the feel-good power of plants can still be available with raised gardens or container gardens.
And the easiest plants to grow of all (in my opinion) are wildflowers in containers or raised beds.
You can buy raised garden beds that are small enough to fit on a patio, along with a drought-tolerant wildflower seed mix and a bag of dirt. A stackable container garden would work well, too.
Then, just sprinkle the seeds onto the soil, lightly cover them with some soil, and keep them watered.
Wildflowers grow fast, so it won’t be long before you have a teeny tiny wildflower “meadow” right there on the patio to enjoy all summer long.
Books Related To This Holiday
