When I turned 50, gardening started to feel more like hard work than gardening pleasure. In this video I share ten tips – things I did that made all the difference gardening over 50.
Bending, lifting and constant watering and weeding left me exhausted. That’s why I set out to find the smartest and simplest ways to adjust my gardening routines to make things easier on my body and keep the fun in gardening chores. If you wonder how to garden without aches and pains now that you’re over 50, please join me as I show you what I did to help keep gardening my lifelong passion!
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Chapters:
00:00 – 00:22 intro
00:22 – 00:56 #1 the right mindset
00:56 – 01:30 #2 garden cart
01:30 – 02:12 #3 no kneeling
02:12 – 03:08 #4 hoses
03:08 – 03:51 #5 raise up
03:51 – 04:28 #6 simplify design
04:28 – 05:09 #7 drip
05:09 – 05:29 #8 seating
05:29 – 05:38 #9 using pots
05:38 – 06:15 #10 helpers
When I turned 50, I started to notice that the digging, the planting, the moving heavy objects, the watering started to feel a little challenging. So, I came up with 10 things that made my gardening easier and kept the joy. So, in this video, I’m going to show you what those 10 changes were, and hopefully they’ll help you as well. Number one, change your mindset. Things don’t have to be perfect. I used to get stressed out if I knew someone was going to come visit my garden because of course I wanted it to look gorgeous. But over time, I realized that I was tiring myself out trying to be perfect. So basically, changing your mindset is another way of saying lower your standards. Focus on the things that have the biggest impact. Put your energy where it counts and let the rest go. You’d be surprised what people don’t notice. Number two, switch from a wheelbarrow to some kind of a cart. I used to love this wheelbarrow. I even refinished it and painted it to match my color scheme. But the truth is, there have been plenty of times where when I was trying to move a heavy load, it tipped and I twisted my body and I started to think about how that was a really dangerous thing to do. So, some sort of cart, whatever it is, this is a dump cart. This is not a sponsored video, but going from a wheelbarrow to a cart, it’s just steadier. Number three, change kneeling for sitting. This is an old Rubbermaid stool. I bet I’ve had it 10, 12 years, and it’s perfect for working out in the garden. I leave it out all year. And to level it up, I found an old cushion and a scrap piece of canvas. I didn’t even sew this. I just cut a strip, wrapped it around, and used a hot glue gun. So you can work so much longer in a sitting position. Your back doesn’t hurt versus when you are on your knees. If you think about it, even a young person can only work so long on their knees. So swap out kneeling for sitting. Your back will thank you. Number four, switch to a lighter hose. This is the hose most of us grew up with and a lot of you probably still have. And this thing, empty with no water in it, weighs 10 lbs. This one, this one, lighter weight, smaller diameter, weighs 5 lb. So, if you haven’t been to the nursery or garden store lately to look at what your alternatives are, please do. There are so many cool hoses out now. Different colors, different finishes. I’ve seen some that are retractable. There’s just so many alternatives to our old heavy heavy friend. Number five, raise things up. I love to grow leafy greens, spinach, chard. I’m getting ready to plant this with beets, but I don’t want to be on my knees in a 12-in high raised bed. So, I bought this garden truck online. It’s at a wonderful height, almost kitchen counter height. I can work comfortably in here for a very long time. Another way to raise something up is to put it in a pot. So, these grapes, if I were growing them directly in the ground, would be a lot more work. There would be more bending over and pruning. Whereas here I can work at eye level. It makes a huge difference. So raising things up. Number five. Number six, choose a simpler design. And one of the best ways to do this is to use ground covers. When you plant something and mass, it eliminates a whole lot of weeding. Here’s another example. I have this ground cover planted so thickly. Well, it’s grown in over the years, but the idea is that when you plant something in mass, it just automatically chokes out the weeds and it saves a lot of backbreaking work. And here’s another example. I just almost never weed this area because the ground cover, this is Pacandra, just chokes out the weeds. Number seven, automate your watering. There’s plenty of good videos online about how to install drip. The point that I want to make is that if you are still dragging a hose around your garden without any drip at all, you need to make things easier on yourself, my friend. Adding a drip will make your life so much better. And when you turn that my I turn mine on manually. I don’t even have mine on a timer. I just go over and turn it on manually. Set the timer on my phone for 20 minutes. I sit there with my magazine and my diet soda or my margarita and that is the way to water a garden when you’re over 50. I mean, come on. Number eight, add more seating. Sprinkle chairs around the garden wherever it makes sense. It’s just so nice to be able to take a 5minut break and then you’re up and on your way again. Here’s another spot where I placed a chair. And another spot where I placed a chair. Number nine, grow things in pots up higher off the ground. You’re not bending over, you’re not stooping, and you’re not kneeling. It makes it so much more enjoyable. Number 10, get help. If it’s not in the budget to hire somebody, find a friend or a neighbor that you can trade favors with. Maybe you bake a special apple pie. Maybe you can trade a couple hours of babysitting. I used to love shoveling wheelbarls full of gravel, moving mountains of mulch. I used to love all of that and I could do it all day long. But not anymore. And so now for me to continue enjoying my garden, I ask for help. Well, that’s it, my friends. I hope my tips are as helpful to you as they have been for me. And if you’re enjoying my content, please like and subscribe. I’ll see you next time.
34 Comments
These are great tips for any age! I worked in physical therapy for a decade, mostly in inpatient rehab. After lifting so much, I ended up with a bad low back injury (despite using good body mechanics, seeking assistance from others to life obese patients, and doing weight lifting, yoga, and Pilates 6 days/week) at the ripe old age of 36. I'll be 46 next month, and entering my fifth year of gardening. My back is doing well now, but sometimes it will flare up and be painful for a few days. My husband and I just finished putting all our 100-gallon grow bags up on pallets so we don't have to bend anymore to plant/harvest. We hope to move into our forever home in the next five years, and we are already planning our next garden that we can enjoy as we age.
Luv content like this…to all Seniors, pray first before starting your day….keep your routine….stretch..slow TaiChi helps…
Fab video, thank you. Love the tip about trading favours.
Also, in addition to the stool, I use a large piece of cardboard and sit on the ground to do weeding. It is the best.
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Thank you. I loved your video
Fifty is not old however our body can’t always do the things we did when we were twenty. We aren’t always as flexible & there is a higher risk we injure ourselves twisting & turning.
In the health profession it’s called manual handling. We’re not allowed to lift patients and have to be conscious of everyday tasks which may cause injuries to our bodies. I congratulate you on giving everyone ideas on how to change there approach to gardening before they sustain an injury. Once you have a back issues it’s often with you for the rest of your life & it only takes one second & your in serious pain.
wow – what a wonderful video and sage ideas. thank you so much 🙂
Just found your channel and thrilled that I did. Thank you so much! Cathy, Salt Lake City
I am 55 and I love gardening. I hurt my back often but I never give up gardening.
I am 55 and I love gardening. I hurt my back often but I never give up gardening.
can you please list the ground covers that you recommend? and do you have a video on how to do drip system?
LOVE THIS VIDEO. Thank you
I am 51 just started gardening last year. Thanks for the tips
50????😨You shouldn’t need all these in your 50’ . Unless you’re disabled .
These ideas work great for children and senior living facilities where gardening is enjoyed by all. Oh and those with physical challenges mine is arthiritis. Thanks.
These are great tips. I have a stool just like yours that I've been using for the past 3 years. At 73, I've bitten off almost more than I can chew with new plantings and beds!
I am working on downsizing my flower beds in the sun. I just have more than I can keep up with and I had the miss fortune of planting something invasive in part of them. I live to plant in our woods because the weeds don’t grow as well. And because I can let some areas naturalize, so I don’t even worry about the weeds. I am going to try to go with more flowering shrubs in my sunny areas rather than perennials to cut down on weeding.
Are you mad? At 56 I still have two of my children at home and I'm living and feeling like I did at 30. Zero difference. Stop pretending 50 is old!
Don't lower your standards just simplify
What about gardening over 70? Exhausted after 5 minutes, unable to get up due to weak knees, and sore hips. I’m grieving the fact that I have to seriously limit what I’m doing, choosing to do this rather than that while seeing what needs to be done. Becoming a lazy gardener against my will
great video
Very helpful video and not just for older people but also for those with different disabilities.
Helpful ideas, but some concern me. If you stop doing things because they’re hard, it won’t really be long before you can’t do them at all. I think it is better to scale back some and focus on building your strength, but keep doing the hard work.
Is this a garden video or a shopping site.?
Try gardening at 80. Still at it
But it is getting tough
❤I appreciate your advice and encouragement very much! Needed greatly. Renewed hope.
??? beautiful garden and …Diet Soda = poison!
Ah know the feeling! Good hints too. Love the area you live in, very similar to Perth West Aus, used to visit every year for work.
Every one of those tips is a good one! I'm 73 and apply them all to my gardening.
Agree about the wheelbarrow! Great tips. What type of leaning tree is it behind your koi pond? thanks for the great video!
Older women diagnosed with osteoporosis must learn to be more careful with lifting, pushing, pulling while working in garden. I agree with you. Thanks for video.
Thank you for sharing! I’m 37 and already have troublesome feet. Adding these tips to my vision board! (Loved that video too)
Good suggestions for us mature plant lovers 😅
I have a 75 ft expandable water hose and is super light much easier to move around. Like the stool idea so true about being on your knees. Thanks