Is It Possible to Garden for Life?

Spring 2026 was one for the record books! Yes, it was very dry in April, and very wet and unexpectedly chilly in May. But climate conditions were not the cause for alarm. The issues of concern were my noticeably diminishing stamina and body resilience while completing all the same gardening chores I’ve done at my home for the last 15 years.

My wooded, shady “Japanese-esque” property might be different from your standard flower beds and lawns, and its requirements have always been within my range. There are no lawns to mow (replaced by gravel walkways) and no dirt to dig on ground level. The main tasks include maintenance of four pachysandra beds contained within stone boundaries, a roadside parade of Ostrich ferns with some companion shady, deer resistant perennials, raised vegetable garden boxes and various large pots on rolling castors on the deck, including two miniature citrus trees. Sounds manageable, doesn’t it?

The emphatic answer is “NOT THIS YEAR!” The first notification that my 73-year-old self would feel differently was after a 2-3-hour stint, pruning pachysandras on only two of the four beds. Yes, they were neglected, having grown way past their stone boundaries. Yes, I was sitting on a little stool for the entire process. Unfortunately, my lower back did not get the memo that this task was a new challenge.

The next bodily notification was when I decided to plant all three raised vegetable boxes on my deck, all the hummingbird/bee attractors, and repot the citrus trees. Not paying attention to time, not drinking enough water, and not breaking for lunch all invited my lower back and stamina to a very dark place.

What Is Going on in the Gardening World with Senior Bodies?

I am happily at a place in my life where I am never competing with younger folks. The office dramas are gone, I’ve made peace with driving during daylight hours and avoiding highways when I can (which I’ve also written about), but I hadn’t yet extended these same courtesies to myself while gardening, and my body vociferously protested!

The quick answer to my dilemma is mechanical in nature: there are predictable, age-related changes in muscle strength, and joint flexibility as well as difficulties with body temperature regulation (soaked tee shirts and bandanas) and diminished skin resilience (where did that big scratch come from)?

All of these “lovelies” result in a gardening session with reduced energy for digging, pushing and carrying (caused by sarcopenia); weakened grip strength, noticeable while pruning; and not so subtle reminders from the knees, hips and lower back, courtesy of joint degeneration. In addition, faulty balance and slower reaction times make work on uneven surfaces noticeably precarious.

Gardening Is Hard for People of All Ages!

While trying to decipher my new maladies and wondering how long I could keep soldiering through my tasks each spring, I happily found a very encouraging YouTube video, courtesy of physical therapist Dr. Amy Konvalin. Posting on her YouTube channel, Physical Therapy for Everybody, Dr. Konvalin does a deep dive into the genesis of back pain from gardening and what seasonal gardeners of all ages can do about it.

Dr. Konvalin finds that many gardeners who are sedentary all winter act like weekend warriors at the first sight of a robin. Not accustomed to bending forward, twisting, and carrying heavy loads, these spirited gardeners try to do too much too quickly, using a body which has, for a long time, been sipping coffee and watching Netflix movies.

Gardening almost always involves bending forward, a movement rarely done in everyday life, hence the back strain. Eager gardeners can also forget how heavy those bags of mulch and soil can be when visions of gorgeous flowers and delectable veggies occupy the mind. In fact, all awareness of time and bodily needs seem to vanish in such rewarding tasks.

Her simple, easy to implement recommendations include switching between tasks every 15 minutes, stopping for breaks to eat and drink regularly, and stopping a task when you feel pain. Other ideas include holding heavy bags of gardening materials close to the body when walking and cutting off the top of the bag, turning it upside down and shaking out the contents, rather than holding the entire bag up and slowly removing the needed product.

She offers a simple PT tip to be done during gardening breaks when one feels pain, or after a gardening session: lay on the floor on the back with one’s knees bent, feet on the floor, arms outstretched. This reverses the curve of the back which results from prolonged bending over.

Pro Tips for Senior Gardeners

Common sense dictates that as one ages, it might be a good idea to reduce the number of beds to a small number close to the house (or fewer pots on an apartment deck). Raised beds, vertical gardening, trellises and hanging baskets provide wonderful venues for attractive plants without all the aches and pains of bending over.

Ergonomic tools such as power pruners, light weight long handled tools for digging and chopping up soil are helpful. Old tools can be wrapped in thick foam to make grasping them easier. Sit to stand helpers, small benches which have handles and can be reversed as kneeling pads or seats are a must! Finally, self-awareness of physical time limits is imperative. Working in the coolest hours of the day for limited amounts of time, sprinkled with breaks for food and drink are recommended.

Moving Forward with Adaptations

Thankfully, all my spring chores have been completed, and I am now benefiting daily. A cardinal vine, which usually doesn’t flower until August, has some blooms. All the little fertilizer spikes I put in the pots have made my plants bushy and bloom laden! The orange and lemon tree are beginning to blossom!

Note to self: I must record all the techniques I learned this year in my garden journal, and not set out on the first day of spring 2027 hoping to accomplish every goal.

My personal adaptations are many, and they include having the gravel walks sprayed in April with pre-emergent weed killer so I don’t have to spend the summer bending over pulling weeds. I’ve replaced all regular hoses with the very light weight contractable pocket hoses in three different areas. This makes watering the plants on the deck a snap, and the watering of the long stretch of ferns along the road less of a chore.

I’ve planted fewer plants on the deck. Also, I am not taking all the heavy tropical plants in my house outside for the summer. I’ve switched from terra cotta pots to plastic lookalikes, because they are easier to lift, and I asked for a battery powered leaf blower for my birthday!

Being kind to my body requires a spritz of insect spray, a sweat bandana around my forehead, and cool cotton clothing before venturing outside. I now fill up a thermos with ice water and break for a full lunch and rest after a reasonable period of work time. Next year I need to replace my too short little stool with a more body-friendly sit-to-stand product.

There is no doubt that the rewards of gardening are many. Practicing self-care in this realm is good practice for when it is also needed in other spheres of life.

Share Your Thoughts:

Have you faced any gardening challenges as you get older? What accommodations have you made? Have you given up gardening altogether?