How to Enjoy the Great Outdoors with Adapted Gardening Tools and Techniques

Gardening presents a myriad of problems if you have arthritis, are elderly, or are otherwise mobility-impaired. It's one thing to overcome indoor obstacles like reaching toilet paper on a high shelf; but it's quite another thing to lift big bags of mulch, kneel in dirt, and hoe weeds.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Adapted gardening tools
• Willingness to try a new way of doing things!

1. The first thing you need is to completely change your way of thinking about garden tools. Traditional garden tools are inappropriate for people who must deal with hand and finger discomfort, as well as for those with mobility challenges. The solution is to seek out garden tools made just for such a situation. In fact, after using some of these tools for awhile, you may wonder why you ever used the "classic" type of garden tools in the past!
2. Investigate how ergonomic garden tools can make gardening something you can once again enjoy. The key to any ergonomic tool is the ninety-degree angled grip. Traditional gardening tools provide a gripping surface that runs in a straight line from the tool head to your hands. This means that you must adjust your hands to conform to the tool. Twisting your hands, wrists, and arms in a linear fashion usually results in pain. By contrast, the ergonomic garden tool conforms to you. The key element is a short handle that rests at a ninety-degree angle, or perpendicular, to the garden tool shaft. This allows you to grip the handle with one hand in a natural upright position. You will find trowels, cultivators, hoes, and forks with just such a smart design. If you don't want to give up your traditional linear-shaft garden tools, you can even buy add-on grips that turn these into ergonomic tools.
3. When further support is added, try special support cuffs that provide assistance in gripping the ergonomic garden tool. Available for many types of garden tools, this support cuff works in conjunction with the 90-degree handle mentioned above. The support cuff is positioned behind the 90-degree handle, allowing you to slip your forearm through the cuff. You now have two points of stability: the cuff and the 90-degree handle.
4. Use extended handle tools when bending is a problem. For gardeners who cannot quite reach their intended target, there are garden tools with extended shafts. Cultivators, hoes, trowels, and forks are available with long shafts between 31" and 34" which allow a gardener to sit on a garden seat caddy or on the ground and tend to plants from a distance.

Tips & Warnings

• Spending time outdoors will make your feel better and improve your outlook!
• Don't garden in pain when there is help available to alleviate that pain!
• Don't hesitate to ask for help when you need it.