Easy Gardening

For many of us, all the digging, hoeing, weeding, mowing and watering are hard on backs, shoulders, and knees.  If you have trouble bending, squatting, pushing or lifting but still like having a garden, try these tips.

Start with the right tools:

• Use lightweight hand tools with rubber handles. Tools with offset handles make digging and weeding easier.
  
  
• If you own great gardening tools, make the handles more comfortable by covering them with foam tubing used for pipe insulation. 
  
  
• Keep your tools sharp. Clean, sharp tools work better and require less effort from you. 
  
  
• Handle extenders save your back, and adding them to shovels and other tools reduces bending. 
  
  
• Use a reacher to pick up weeds and dead leaves; try this when you plant seedlings. 
  
  
• Use gardening gloves to protect your hands and provide extra cushioning.

Make gardening go faster with shortcuts:

• Plant perennials and bulbs instead of annuals to get garden color with less effort each year.
  
  
• Choose the best time to do tasks. Soil is softer after it rains, making it the best time to dig.

Make lawn mowing easier:

• Add foam padding to lawnmower and power tool handles to reduce aches and pains you get from motor vibrations.
  
  
• Add a handle extender if you bend to use the lawn mower.  Raising the handle height will help reduce strain on your back and shoulders. 
  
  
• An oversized pull grip handle makes it easier to grasp the string for pull-start mowers, trimmers, and blowers.

Try container gardening:

• Easier to manage than a garden, containers are perfect for flowers and the deeper ones are great for vegetables and small trees. 
  
  
• Look for containers on sale, or be creative with old buckets, baby bathtubs, wheelbarrows or whatever you can find.
  
  
• Save your back by placing the container where you want it, and then filling it with soil and plants.  
  
  
• Buy smaller bags of soil—they are much easier to handle. 
  
  
• Start small with container gardens.  It's easy to buy more containers and plants than you can handle. 

For expert gardening advice, contact UK Extension Horticultural.