You don’t need a large backyard to experience these benefits. A balcony with herbs, a few flowering pots near a window, or even caring for indoor plants can introduce many of the same habits that keep the brain engaged. Of course, gardening is not a treatment for dementia or memory loss. It cannot replace medical care, exercise, sleep, or a healthy diet. But neuroscience increasingly suggests it deserves a place alongside these healthy lifestyle habits.
The beauty of gardening is that it asks you to slow down without asking you to stop thinking. You observe, adjust, remember, and learn every single day. Those small mental challenges may seem ordinary, but over months and years they add up.
