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Tips for Aging Gardeners

Injuries are more common than you might think

By Jim Miller

April 21, 2008
There’s no doubt that gardening is one of America’s favorite outdoor activities, but for older gardeners who suffer from arthritis, back problems or other physical limitations, gardening can become painful, difficult and downright frustrating.

While many people think of gardening as a leisurely activity, the truth is, it can be extremely physical and taxing on an aging body, leading to multiple aches and pains as well as injuries.

In fact, it’s estimated that anywhere from one-third to half of all summer recreational injuries are related to gardening. Back pain and knee injuries are common, along with carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow and other repetitive stress injuries caused by overuse.

With gardening, good form is very important as well as not overdoing any one activity.

A common problem is gardeners often kneel or squat, putting extra pressure on their knees. To spare their knees, they might stand and bend over for long stretches to weed, dig and plant, straining their back and spine. And bending over to pick up plants and bags of soil takes an added toll on the back.

To help protect your body, gardening gurus recommend warming up before beginning. Start by stretching, focusing on the legs and lower back.

And keep changing positions and activities. Don’t spend hours weeding a flower bed. After 15 minutes of weeding, stand up, stretch and switch to another activity like pruning the bushes or just take a break.

It’s also important to recognize physical limitations and adjust to them. For example, if mowing the lawn wears you out and you have no energy left to tend to your flowers or vegetable garden, hire someone to mow.

Helpful equipment

The right gardening equipment can help, as well. Kneeling pads can protect knees and gardening stools are both back and knee savers.

Long-handled tools (see www.hound-dog.com and www.yardbutlerstore.com) can also ease the strain on the back.

Although you still may need to get down in the dirt eventually, using a hoe, shovel or bulb planter with a longer handle allows you to do a lot of the work from a standing position so you’ll spend less time bent over. The goal, whether you’re planting or hauling bags of mulch, is to keep the spine as straight as possible.

Ergonomic tools with fatter handles and other design features are also readily available and can make lawn and garden activities a little easier. See www.radiusgarden.com and www.fiskars.com to find these types of unique tools, and visit www.gardeningwithease.com for wide variety of ergonomic gardening equipment.

Heavy water

And let’s not forget about watering. The chore of carrying water or handling a heavy, awkward hose can also be difficult for many older gardeners.

Some helpful options include soaker or drip hoses that can be snaked throughout the garden, a coil hose to use on patio or small areas, a hose caddy and reel for easier transport around the yard, or a self-winding hose chest (see www.no-crank.com) that puts itself away automatically.

There are also a variety of ergonomic watering wands that are lightweight, easy to grip and reach those hard to-get-to plants. Many of these watering items can be found in local stores that sell lawn and garden supplies, or see www.gardeners.com.

Adaptive gardening

If your garden is causing you too many aches and pains, there are other ways you can keep those thumbs green. One solution is container gardening, using big pots, window boxes, hanging baskets, barrels and tub planters that can eliminate much of the bend and strain of gardening but still gives you the pleasure of making things grow.

Trellises are another nice option allowing her to garden vertically instead of horizontally, and raised garden beds also eliminate kneeling, stooping and bending.

Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” books.

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