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 Garden
Longer with Less Muscle Strain and Fatigue
By Melinda Myers
[March 08, 2025]
That first full day in the garden may find you tired,
sunburned, and stiff. Whether you are a young or young-at-heart
gardener, include some strategies to help extend your enjoyment and
reduce fatigue and muscle strain so you can keep gardening longer
each day and for years to come. |
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No matter your age, it’s important to protect your
joints when gardening. Use a kneeler pad or knee pads to protect
your knees. Knee pads secured to your legs allow you to conveniently
and comfortably protect your knees as you move from one garden bed
to another.
If you need help kneeling, consider a garden kneeler with handles.
The handles provide needed support when kneeling and standing up.
The ones that can be flipped over and used as a garden bench provide
double the benefit. The seating position reduces bending and helps
minimize the need to kneel.
Elevating your garden can also help. It is a great way to save space
and eliminate the need to bend when planting, weeding, and
harvesting. Elevated gardens and raised beds also offer a place to
garden where planting space is limited or nonexistent. You’ll enjoy
planting and harvesting with minimal weeding needed. Just be sure to
monitor soil moisture and water as needed. Use self-watering
containers, add irrigation or employ water-extending products to
help lengthen the time between watering.
Further expand planting options by dressing up walls, fences, and
more with vertical gardens. Monitor soil moisture in wall-mounted
gardens regularly as many have limited soil that dries out quickly.
Clean and sharpen your tools, including pruning
equipment, digging and weeding tools. This allows you to make cuts
more easily and dig into the soil and weed with less effort.
Consider investing in ergonomic tools designed for comfort to help
prolong your time in the garden. Select lightweight tools with
non-slip comfortable grip handles aligned to keep your wrist
extension straight, which helps reduce muscle strain.
Use pruners with ratcheting, compound, or Dual Link action for more
cutting power with less effort. You’ll be able to spend more time
pruning with less muscle strain and fatigue. Consider investing in
shovels with an anti-skid plate above the blade, providing more foot
support for more digging power. Or retrofit an existing shovel with
a commercially available anti-skid foot plate.
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Don’t overlook the importance of protecting your
hands as well when gardening. Quality gardening gloves provide
support and protection when digging, planting, pruning, and more.
Start with some preseason training. Every gardener
knows gardening is a workout and often involves different motions
and muscles than other exercises. Always warm up your muscles and do
a bit of stretching before getting out in the garden.
Enlist the help of wheeled carts and wagons to move plants, mulch,
soil, and other heavy loads. Don’t be afraid to break heavy loads
into smaller batches or ask for help. You’ll spare your muscles and
probably save time in the long run.
Wear a pair of safety glasses to protect your eyes and don’t forget
the sunscreen. Take frequent breaks and drink plenty of water.
Preseason planning and preparation can help reduce muscle strain as
the garden season begins. You’ll boost your enjoyment and be able to
garden longer.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books,
including the Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small
Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything”
instant video and DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s
Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and
contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned
by Summit for her expertise to write this article. Myers’ website is www.MelindaMyers.com.
[Photo courtesy of MelindaMyers.com]
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