Gardening with RA 2024

If it seems like my yearly gardening post is a bit late this season, well, that’s because it is! Those who follow my blog know, gardening is one of my favorite types of therapy, both physical and mental. Spending time helping things grow, relaxes me. Having living things dependent on me showing up to nurture them , motivates me to move a little more, even on a rough day. The tricks I’ve learned over the years, help keep that workload manageable. Gardening after all, can be back breaking, hot work. A few changes to the way I approach the task make it a (mostly) painless process.

Raise it up- I do very little of my growing at ground level. That is, in fact the true story of why this post is so late! I wanted to show you what we’ve been up to this spring/summer. As the first growing season since we settled into our own home we’ve had a lot on our plates this spring. Reclaiming and cleaning up our jungle of a yard and beginning to establish my first stationary raised beds has taken time, energy and the hard work of my luckily very willing boys. Raising the level of the growing things I need to tend means less stooping and bending to pull the inevitable weeds, prune plants and harvest. Before raised beds, I gardened in fabric bags and raised pots on platforms.

Weed prevention- Preventing weeds from growing is by far my favorite type of weed management. Putting down a good weed barrier is the first line of defense. Lining your raised bed with cardboard or a commercial weed barrier will help prevent weeds from growing up through the ground and invading your beds. A good heavy mulch can also help keep weeds at bay, as well as helping slow water loss to evaporation. This means less weeding and less watering! I use a variety of mulches from wood chips to shredded paper and newspaper.

Simplify watering- One of the tasks that can be a huge pain without the right setup, is watering. Dragging heavy hoses or watering cans around wears me out quickly. Investing in a few lightweight expanding hoses, using lever activated spray nozzles instead of trigger style ones, and raising shutoffs for easy access all make the task much simpler. When I do use a watering can, I use a small one with a large easy grip handle that I can pour with two hands. Next year, we will start adding in-ground irrigation, which will make watering as simple as flipping a switch or setting a timer.

Get the right tools for the job– Gardening with arthritic hands and knees comes with it’s challenges. Most of them can be overcome with the right tools. Long handled tools mean less stooping, chunky handled tools improve my grip and are easier to work with. Electric trimmers make pruning tasks more manageable. Weeding robots are on the market though sadly not yet in my own garden. For now, weeding tools with long chunky handles will have to do. Raised gardens make things easier on my knees and back, my travel stool also spends a lot of time in the garden as switching between standing and sitting keeps my body happier.

Pacing- While there is a part of me that wants to jump right in and have acres of gardens, there is a much more realistic side that knows that will set me and the plants up for failure. Starting with a couple of small raised beds and some patio pots, adding perennials slowly, keeps the work load small enough so everything is getting what it needs. Breaking tasks like planting, thinning, and weeding into several short sessions instead of trying to do the entire garden at once, means I actually get them done. Rather than spending 3 days recovering from pushing myself too far, I spend a little bit of 2-3 days doing the weeding. A little bit at a time, it all gets done.

Ask for help- Some garden tasks are heavy, some are just too much of a struggle, or will definitely make part of my body really angry. Those are the things I am most likely to ask for help with. Building raised beds by myself, is not something I would tackle. Luckily, I’ve got some pretty great help. Together we are creating the gardens of my dreams, one little step at a time.

Do you enjoy growing plants? What is your favorite RA friendly garden tool?