Sibert's practical perspective to garden design and gardening incorporates easy-to-find and inexpensive tools, as well as some creative approaches -- and helps arthritic gardeners keep fit and digging in those trenches. Adaptable equipment is as close as your nearest Target, Kmart, local hardware stores or Home Depot. Sibert's favorite gardening aid is an inexpensive, plastic garden kneeler that flips over to become a stool. Look for hand tools with soft padding on handles to increase grip size, which reduces the amount of pressure on the finger joints. Ergonomically angled handles keep the hand and wrist in a natural position to prevent strain on joints.
Stretch or warm up muscles before you begin working to help prevent injury. Work during the time of the day that you feel your joints are most flexible. Wear gloves to protect hands and cushion joints. Make sure you wear sunscreen, since some arthritis medications can make you more susceptible to sunburn.
Use a lightweight hand truck or dolly to move heavy bags of soil or mulch. Some garden carts feature canvas bags for toting on a collapsible wheeled cart that can be stored easily. Or use a child's old wagon to carry gardening tools, bulbs or plants around while you work. Remember to include a bottle of water to keep yourself well-hydrated.
Use a wheeled chair or "scoot seat" designed for garden use while weeding. Don't sit on the ground while pulling those weeds. Or consider a really cushy kneeler.
Think inside the box -- a window box. Container gardening in pots or window boxes gets gardeners off the ground and into more comfortable work positions to ease knees and hips. Keep those showy annuals in pots, and use more ground covers and perennials elsewhere, so there's less maintenance. Consider scaling back on some of those ambitious garden plans. Enjoy those lush garden views at a botanical garden instead.
"Beautiful English gardens are great, but they also have English gardeners doing all the work," Sibert said. "I've learned to limit my annuals just to pots, and lightweight pots at that. I'll never buy another terracotta pot again."
The Arthritis Foundation Enabling Garden lists these tools to help make the work easier:
- PowerWind hose reel. Motor-driven; available at Kmart and Home Depot, or see www.suncast.com.
- Yellow-handled ergonomic tools by PETA. www.peta-uk.com/usashop/index.html.
- Foam kneeler by Birkenstock. Order through Birkenstock retail locations. To find one near you visit www.birkenstock.com.
- Spray Doc pump sprayer on wheels by Gilmour. Available through specialty garden catalogs. To find a retailer, visit www.gilmour.com.
- Step 2 kneeler and garden hoppers. Available at many hardware stores and garden centers. To find a retailer, visit www.step2company.com.
- Ames Garden Cart. Available at Kmart, Home Depot, Ace Hardware and True Value stores. To find additional retailers, visit www.ames.com.
- Hand tools by OXO. Available at most hardware stores and garden centers or at www.oxo.com.
Source: Daily Herald. Powered by Yellowbrix.
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