One of the best things employers can do to keep their employees happy is to provide an area where workers can spend their breaks outdoors and in a garden area.

If your workplace doesn’t have such an area, start one yourself and get others involved. There are several reason why this is a good idea, but here are three of them:

1. Gardening at work can raise employee moral and spirits. It’s more fun and invigorating to go out and see how your plants are doing and move around than to sit in a break room with nothing to do but read or eat.

2. Work breaks spent in the garden become more satisfying because it is a complete break from what you are doing and thinking about most of the day. Plus, a break gardening tends to reduce stress and bring creativity out.

3. Working together on a garden project can be meaningful because employees are bonding and interacting in a totally different way than usual. Plus the produce grown is economically beneficial to everyone.

Now many workplaces just aren’t set up for a full-blown garden area, but there are other small things that can be done to work around this.

6 Ways to Bring Gardening Into Your Workplace:

1. Raised Garden Beds
Consider building or buying some garden boxes. They can easily be placed outside in a sunny spot. Each employee can have their own space in one of the boxes, and bring in their own plants and seeds for the work garden. All the flowers or vegetables grown can then be shared among everyone or it can belong just to the individual. It’s their choice giving them control over their own area.

2. Window Boxes For Herbs
Growing herbs at work is great because it’s easy to do and they can be dried in a microwave (see article below). The herbs can then be used to flavor up work lunches in the break room. Each employee can bring in a few pots of herbs to place in work windows. Herbs not only are pretty, but they can freshen up stale office air.

3. Hanging Plants
Growing flowers, or vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and many others, in hanging baskets help an enormous amount in changing the atmosphere in a work area. Allowing workers to hang plants in the office not only makes them feel more at home, but they put clients at ease. Plants simply create a welcoming atmosphere because they are green and natural.

4. Put A Garden Area In An Unused Room
If you have a room or area that has windows and isn’t being used, then use it to create a garden for employees. Use boxes, benches, and plants to create an indoor garden where employees can relax and get ideas flowing while on break. Or if your break room has windows, put in the benches and plants because it is more relaxing to take a break in a garden-like area, rather than sitting on hard metal work chairs in a break room.

5. Start A Community Garden
Because many work places are not adaptable to gardening, consider getting together outside of work and start a community garden area. Even in metropolitan areas there are spots that can be made into a community garden area. It’s a great way to not only work with the community, but employees can really get involved.

6. Have Farmers Market At Work
If many employees all ready have gardens that produce more fruits and vegetables than they need, have them bring extra produce and herbs to work. Share with fellow employees who lack gardening space, and if anyone cans or pickles, make sure they can bring sauces, pickles, canned fruit, jams and jellies to share at work too.

Related Article:
Microwave Your Herbs!

For in-depth gardening articles, tutorials, gardening tips and gardening advice visit our main gardening website at Weekend Gardener Monthly Web Magazine

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