It’s Spring! How Can I Garden?

April 7th, 2010 · 5 Comments

It’s Spring and for many, that means it’s time to garden. But for people with pain, gardening can be a challenge.

However, careful planning and simple adjustments can let you continue to enjoy this green hobby.

An innovative partnership between the Arthritis Foundation’s Indiana chapter and the Department of Agriculture helps farmers, ranchers and gardeners with arthritis come up with ways to reduce pain while continuing to garden. Amber Wolfe is the national coordinator for this program and says that the program’s strategies may be useful for any pain disorder.

Some suggestions:

use a smaller garden
use a raised garden
use ergonomic tools
choose lower maintenance plants, perennials, and native plants
use a wheelbarrow for moving heavier items

How to not overdo it:

start with light stretches
take breaks
alternate heavy tasks with light ones
break big tasks up over a period of time
drink water
ask for family and friends to help

What are the benefits of gardening?

Continuing a hobby you love is good for your body and mind. Gardening:

is a physical activity, so gives you all the benefits of exercise
strengthens your bones
is a distraction from pain
engages your senses – just smell that fresh soil!
lets you connect with nature
has a calming affect

Readers, do you love to garden? What tips have you found helpful?

5 responses so far ↓

Sherrin Drew // Apr 8, 2010 at 5:50 am

Thanks for this lovely post! It is autumn here in Australia, but we’re still gardening. I have had chronic pain for over ten years now. At first I thought it would not stop me from doing anything, and later I went to the opposite extreme and thought I couldn’t do much at all. After a long time of adjustment I know more about my limits, but also about what I can achieve. My wonderful husband has built us raised garden beds and we love our veggie garden. I do a lot of the planting and weeding. I even blog lots about gardening now! I feel incredibly blessed to have realised that it is possible to do these things even with chronic pain, as it brings a lot of joy and satisfaction to our lives to grow our own food.
michele // Apr 15, 2010 at 11:30 pm

Thanks for this great article, gardening has always been a hobby. I put myself through college as a single parent by working on the grounds crew in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Since I have been in such pain though, it has become my “therapy”. The rewards of seeing things grow or seeing caterpillars eat and become butterflies
helps me to look forward to the next day. I realized a long time ago, when I first was unable to go back to work that one of the positives of my being ill was that I could “watch” my garden more. Even if I don’t feel good I go sit and become “mindful”. I think a key to continued living is finding the positives in whatever is thrown across our path. Hurricane Ike really damaged the garden I had developed since 1989 and my home too. This spring I have begun to see the garden recover, so just as I recovered from having the garden, now the garden is recovering because it has me and my friends that take care of it.
How to Cope with Pain // Apr 16, 2010 at 8:00 am

Michele, I liked how you found made something positive – being able to watch your garden more – out of illness.
Benia // May 6, 2010 at 6:23 pm

Yes, natives are the best! My husband and I transformed our entire yard into a native garden, so there’s no lawn to mow. Luckily, most of the work has already been done before I got Fibromyalgia, so maintaining it is minimal (weeding and path maintenance with a mower) and my husband helps lots. Most days, we can just sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor and watch the animals enjoy.

We documented the project, if you’re interested (there are LOADS of photos):
http://www.icode6.net/native_suburbia/
Dana Marton // Jun 3, 2010 at 1:51 am

Thank you for the great post and info!
Blessings,
~Dana~