Gardening With Arthritis: Tips for Preventing Joint Pain

Gardening can be a healthy hobby, especially when living with arthritis — providing both physical and mental health benefits. To continue gardening with arthritis, all you need is a little planning and creativity to reduce the risk of joint pain and injury.

A few shortcuts and adaptations can make gardening possible for anyone, says Heidi Sibert, a landscape architect at James Martin Associates in Chicago. Sibert, who has psoriatic arthritis, is a passionate proponent of a horticultural approach called enabling gardens.

Enabling gardens, which are used by many doctors as a form of physical, mental and social therapy, are specifically designed to be accessible to people with specific needs and limitations. They key to gardening with arthritis is to keep your garden within easy reach.

With just a few adjustments or modifications, you can garden on any scale and indulge your preference for flowers, vegetables or landscaping plants. Start by identifying any potential limitations and finding a way around each one — modify gardening tasks as needed. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Take Your Garden to a Higher Level

If you find it difficult to bend or stoop to work in your garden, bring the garden closer to you! Try a flower box or raised flowerbed to eliminate stooping. Raised beds, containers or planting tables can reduce the stress on your knees when you’re digging, planting, weeding and watering.

Raised beds can be made permanent, held up by wood, brick or stone walls that will stay in place long-term. Consider hiring someone to help with the initial installation; once in place, the garden is yours to plant and enjoy.

For a more temporary or portable solution, you can grow your garden in pots or other containers. Container gardens are especially great for apartments and small yards. For plants that you plan to move, save your joints by using lightweight Styrofoam or plastic pots. If they’re big, fill them 1/3 full with Styrofoam peanuts, which will help with drainage and reduce their weight.

Use Joint-Friendly Tools

Long-handled tools that allow you to stand, not stoop, and easy-to-grip hand tools are all gardeners’ friends. You can add attachments that lengthen tool handles to gain leverage.

Buy a kneeling pad or even a scooter wagon you can sit on while weeding. This will limit stooping and bending but be sure to stand up and stretch out from time to time. With other joint-friendly tools, you can enjoy gardening with less pain.

A wagon or yard cart with two wheels may be easier to maneuver than a wheelbarrow (with one wheel) when moving garden supplies and debris. 

Practice Correct Posture

Let your larger/stronger joints do the work when possible. Instead of using your fingers to lift an object, try using the flat palm of your hand, your forearms or even your elbows. Practice good lifting posture — bending at the knees — when lifting and eep items close to your body as you lift and carry them. Stand or sit up straight while you work and change positions often.

Take Frequent Breaks

When you’re gardening, arthritis pain can build if you don’t rest your joints properly. Stop and smell the roses and have a glass of lemonade. Well-earned, frequent breaks allow you to appreciate your garden’s beauty, plan your next tasks and get more done before fatigue begins. Doing so will help you maximize both the physical and mental health benefits of gardening.

Check out the gardening tools that have earned the Arthritis Foundation’s Ease of Use certification.