Have you noticed more aches and pains as you’re getting older? It’s a little harder to squat down without your knees hurting. Picking up that pot hurts your back just a little. Your fingers get too stiff to hold the rake sometimes. Ahhh aging! As we grow older, we don’t have as much energy to work in our gardens. And when we do, we seem to have more difficulty doing the job.

Gardening is so good for you. It not only can put food on the table, but it feeds something deep within you. The garden can supply beautiful flowers. And it can help keep you exercising more. But if it hurts when you garden, you’ll be less likely to get outside and work.

Here are some things you can do to stay active while minimizing the pain. I can’t promise pain free but these tips can help to reduce some of the pesky issues that might cause you difficulty when you head out to your garden.

How To Garden With Aches And Pains…

Take Inventory

Take a good look at what you’re struggling with. Are you too weak to lift anymore? Do you have arthritis in your hands? Is a back injury making gardening difficult? When you know what problems you’re facing it becomes easier to decide the best course of action to take. Oftentimes you can find resources available to help with your specific pain issues. Determining the problem is the first step.

Gather The Tools

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There are a lot of helpful tools that can improve your ability to garden. Once you know what issues are a problem for you, then search for tools to help reduce the pain. Here are a few examples:

• If you can’t squat to pull weeds, consider a rolling cart or low stool to sit on. I’ve found using a rolling cart minimizes the need to sit on my knees…less pain.
• If your feet hurt, make sure to have good pair of shoes in the garden. Sandles won’t give you protection or support, so look for shoes that have a sturdy soul and are form-fitting. A high quality insert might also reduce foot pain.
• Can’t hold hand tools to pull weeds? Consider claw gloves to loosen the soil and grab the weed.
• Worried about skin cancer, make sure to have a large hat and protective sunglasses. Cover your arms and legs with a light fabric or sunscreen.
• A back support band can help keep you upright.
• Look for long-handled tools to help reduce bending and climbing. They make long-handled pruners, clippers and shears to help minimize bending.

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Rethink Your Garden

There are simple changes you can make to your garden that can help ease your pain. These changes will depend on what types of pain issues you are struggling with. Here are a few practical ways to make gardening easier when dealing with pain:

• Elevate your potting bench to a height that minimizes having to bend over. This will make it easier to complete your potting tasks.
• Consider using raised beds for your herbs and vegetables. This allows you to stand to plant, weed and harvest…no squatting required.
• Add window boxes and hanging baskets on your porch to provide flowers that are easy to reach.
• For your cutting garden, consider planting tall flowers that make dead-heading and flower harvest easier.

Work With Your Body

My husband will go out into the garden and work like a madman to complete a job. But then he will pay the price for days to come. Instead of that all-or-nothing mentality, pace yourself. Spread those major jobs out. Create a schedule to work on a garden project for just 30 minutes-a-day instead of hours at a time. Stop before you become fatigued or develop pain.

To help minimize aches and pains, consider varying your garden tasks. For example, digging up a flower bed can increase back pain, so dig for 10 minutes and then go work on another project that doesn’t involve digging. Or switch out weeding your flower bed with raking leaves. By changing your tasks you work different muscle groups and put less burden on a single area.

Know Your Limits

As we age, there are just going to be things we can’t do anymore. You might not feel steady climbing the ladder to prune your trees. Maybe you can’t carry a 40 lb bag of steer manure into your vegetable patch anymore. By determining the things that aren’t safe for you to do, you can come up with alternatives. It doesn’t mean that you can’t garden, it just means that you might need to do things differently. Try some of these suggestions when you are struggling:

• Ask for help. A friend or neighbor could load your steer manure into a cart that you can pull into your garden.
• Buy smaller size containers. Twenty pound bags instead of 40, for example.
• Hire someone to help you. Save all those tasks that you can’t do and hire some help for the day.
• Invite your family over for a “Gardening” day. They can help you to do those jobs you absolutely can’t do anymore.
• Cut back on the size of your garden. Do you really need 20 tomato plants, 5 zucchini plants and a 50 foot wall of beans?
• Plant more perennials which need less maintenance, rather than starting annuals from seeds each year.

Choose The Right Time Of Day

You might be an early riser each day, but it takes time to reduce the overnight aches. Wait until your muscles have loosened to head out to the garden. Or maybe by the time late afternoon rolls around you’re too tired to work in the garden so you’re better off going out in the morning. You need to listen to your body and then plan accordingly.

Stretch Before You Start Working

Before you head to the garden, take time to do some simple stretches. This will loosen your muscles and make it less likely for you to injure yourself. By warming up your muscles first, you lower the risk of causing strains and pains.

After Care

Be sure to pamper yourself after spending time in the garden. Enjoy an herbal soaking bath after a day spent gardening. Keep an ice pack on hand to treat any muscle areas that you’ve strained. Purchase the best quality hand lotion you can afford for your sore hands. You might find taking an analgesic like tylenol or Ibuprofen helps after gardening. A pair of soft, cushy slippers or shoes can ease foot aches.

When gardening is part of your life, trying to find ways to overcome the aches and pains of your body is important. There are going to be limits to the things you can do in the garden. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to spend time creating your beautiful garden retreat. It just means that you have to think about your gardening chores differently. You might not be able to squat down to pull your weeds, but you can still be a productive gardener.