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FRIDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- You may not be able to tear your boss' hair out -- but you can snatch the weeds from your flowerbeds.
You may not have the desire to schlep to your gym's power-lift class -- but you can lug bags of soil and push your wheelbarrow around.
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You may not be able to dictate what your office looks like, but you can have flowers and trees in your yard that directly reflect your personality.
And then there's the control -- all those little plant lives are in your hands.
With warmer weather here, more people are charging into their yards and gardens, or maybe thinking about it.
And health experts couldn't be happier.
There are oodles of benefits -- both physical and mental -- that come from the range of activities associated with gardening.
The most obvious benefit is exercise, said Dr. Julie Roth of the Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. And anyone who has planted trees, created a flowerbed from bare lawn or hauled slate to design a walking path will tell you that dominating Mother Nature is hard work.
"It's going to give you a good way to burn calories that's an enjoyable activity for most people," Roth said, adding that studies show that working in your yard or garden can burn between 250 calories and 500 calories an hour, depending on your level of activity.
Diane Relf, a professor emeritus with Virginia Tech's Department of Horticulture, said trimming shrubs or trees requires about the same amount of exertion as walking at a moderate pace. Raking the lawn takes as much energy as a leisurely bike ride or water aerobics. And mowing the lawn with a push mower or tilling a garden can equal the exertion you would expend swimming laps, she said.
"Gardening is moderate -- and sometimes strenuous -- exercise that incorporates many important elements of accepted exercise regimes, such as stretching and stance, repetition and movement," Relf said. "Some gardening even involves resistance principles similar to weight training."
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