Garden clubs can be powerful relationship builders

Jill Severn

Traditional gardening clubs deserve a round of applause, an influx of young new members, and the thanks of a grateful nation.  

For over 100 years, garden club members — mostly but not exclusively women — have promoted the love of gardening, a deep appreciation for the natural world, and the practice of democracy. Garden club members learned how to work together, compromise, solve conflicts, and hold productive meetings. They learned how to hold public events and took on projects to beautify their communities. They built networks of friendship and mutual support as they swapped seeds and plants. But like other citizen-led exemplars of these values, many traditional garden clubs are fading as their members age. 

They are not alone. Twenty-five years ago, Robert Putnam’s book, “Bowling Alone,” shined a bright light on the decline of a wide array of clubs, associations and faith communities. The decline of bowling leagues is his marquee example, but it could as well have been garden clubs.  

 His copious research found a link between that decline and an epidemic of alienation from civic life. Americans were not joining up, they were hunkering down, becoming ever more isolated, and losing a sense of community and trust in each other and in public institutions. 

 Two years ago, this problem seemed to have gotten even worse: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy published a report on the “Epidemic of Loneliness and Social Isolation, and the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community.”  

The surgeon general reported that lack of social connection shortens lives as much as a 15-cigarette a day habit would. It’s also associated with a 29 percent increase in risk of heart disease and a 32 percent increased risk of strokes. 

While there’s also a lot of research showing that gardening — even gardening alone — is good for our health, it’s not likely enough to offset the harm of isolation and lack of social connection. A solitary gardener misses opportunities for enriching relationships and important contributions to the complex fabric of a healthy community and country. 

During World Wars I and II, vegetable gardens were considered acts of patriotism — small but important contributions to “making the world safe for democracy” and defeating Nazism. Today, sharing our interest in our gardens can be a patriotic act that counters division, distrust and animosity. 

So how can today’s gardeners revitalize the social, community-minded dimensions of gardening? 

Garden clubs are a great place to start. Today’s clubs may be set in their ways, but if they could loosen up a bit, garden elders could become a wonderful source of mentorship for younger novices — even those whose tattoos and piercings might appall them. Intergenerational relationships could also spark new conversations about history, cultural change, and how much young and old need and can learn from each other. 

Native plant societies, whose annual plant sales draw hundreds of people, also host learning opportunities that can draw people in. One on local prairie restoration is coming up on Jan. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lord Mansion. If you go, you’ll also learn about volunteer opportunities that connect native plant-loving people. 

Public school gardens and gardening classes — and of course GRuB (Garden Raised Bounty) — are also powerful relationship builders. They get young people away from screens and into the world of plants. They can always use more help. 

Community gardens — run by faith communities, cities and volunteer associations — are another source of connection. We could benefit from more of them. 

Neighborhood associations can help too. Ours used to have an annual garden tour not to show off the best, but to tour “works in progress,” and swap advice, appreciation and general neighborliness. We need to bring that back. 

None of these projects are easy or instant. All of them require groups of people to work together, resolve disagreements and move forward. These are skills that require practice. Letting them fall into disuse weakens us. 

Small acts of this kind of engagement, multiplied by many thousands, are the bricks from which a civil, democratic culture is built. They are the building blocks of social connection, health, and relationships based on mutual respect and trust. 

Simply put, when we grow together, we grow together. 

Jill Severn writes from her home in Olympia, where she grows vegetables, flowers, and a small flock of chickens. She loves conversation among gardeners. Start one by emailing her at  jill@theJOLTnews.com