Gary’s wife claimed her house had been overrun by the color green, and it isn’t because he painted the walls a calming shade of apple. Like many others worldwide, Gary had pick-up a new hobby to deal with the COVID stresses of 2020.
These stress triggers are consistent across various continents dealing with the pandemic. For essential workers, this may be tied to working outside of the home and risking infection. Alternatively, those staying home may feel cooped up and realize that they aren’t getting out enough. Lots of people are fearful of catching the virus. And certainly worse, the inability to interact with friends and friends regularly has taken a toll on all of us. So it isn’t a surprise that Gary has turned to gardening to help manage his mental health.
Jung Lee sits in her quaint rooftop flat. She eagerly begins opening her government-issued package. She is one of 2,000 South Korean citizens who’ve received a personal plant kit. These kits were sent to its citizens to help alleviate the stress of self-isolation—a small but meaningful gesture to help its people cope with the repercussions of the pandemic (Kim & Talmazan, 2020).
This trend in home gardening has picked up momentum in 2020. The Chicago Tribute writes that “#Plant has over 34 million posts on Instagram” (Leazenby, 2020. para. 3). In fact, plant prices have skyrocketed in the last year. The increase in demand has pushed for more inventory of rare and exotic specimens (Ocampo, 2020).
To help keep costs down and encourage responsible harvesting many individuals are looking to online communities to share their plant obsessions. In addition, there is an uptick in smaller mom and pop shops jumping on the social media bandwagon to promote their own businesses. Every day plant enthusiasts have morphed into their own plant influencer, sharing what nurseries they have visited, and what plants are in stock at their local big box store, nursery, or specialty grocery store. Others have brought their love of plants and the sharing of care tips to Youtube as a way to share their knowledge. The relatively small, niche audience and local following have worked together to generate good business for local plant businesses and the community during the COVID slow down.
References:
Kim, S., & Talmazan, Y. (2020) South Korea distributes ‘pet plants’ to fight COVID depression. NBC News. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/south-korea-distributes-pet-plants-fight-covid-depression-n1231695
Leazenby, L. (2020, Aug) More than decor: Houseplants can boost your mental health while COVID-19 has you stuck inside. The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from https://losangeles.networkofcare.org/mh/news-article-detail.aspx?id=115736
Ocampo, K. R. (2020, Sept. 1) Plantitos, plantitas sprout profiteers. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1329557/plantitos-plantitas-sprout-with-profiteers
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