Garden Club Online

Gardening may require a level of physical fitness and mobility to perform specific tasks; however, tasks can be modified to accommodate individual limitations.  By staying active, gardeners not only remain strong, limber, and mobile, they also eat fresh nutritious foods.  A study done in China transformed gardening tasks into workouts by converting gardening motions such as digging, planting, and pruning into structured physical exercises (Pang & Tian, 2024).  These seasonally rotating activities improve fitness levels in communities, were available in small living spaces, and reached wide audiences by combining daily gardening chores with physical activity.  A similar curiosity was researched in Ireland where over 4,500 adults participated in a study to determine if daily chores including gardening contributed enough to physical activity to determine the leanness of the population (Murphy 2013).  During this study nearly 43% of the population met or exceeded the target activity level of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) weekly in the UK.  While the study found that merely completing household chores each week did not predict leanness or protection against cardiovascular disease in the population, it did show that gardening activities such as mowing the lawn, digging, and climbing showed improvement in health.  The outcome of the study emphasized the importance of intense physical exertion when doing household chores if health benefits are the ultimate goal.  While physical fitness makes gardening tasks easier to complete, it is not required.  Many people that enjoy gardening experience a lifetime of mobility changes and adjust the scale of their gardening projects according to their limitations.  While conducting a study that examined the physical effects of gardening activities on elderly living in nursing homes, gardening activities were shown to improve mobility, muscle mass, endurance, dexterity, balance, and walking speed (Ugur, Gok, & Kabakci 2025).  Gardening activities in nursing home residents also improved daily living tasks and resident independence.  Limiting factors such as physical impairments or lack of necessary gardening tools should not discourage anyone from not starting a garden.  There are many gardening tools that have been modified to assist gardeners with arthritis by adding ergonomic handles.  Companies have been manufacturing and selling raised garden beds and raised garden containers.  New stools have been flooding the market that have handles on the sides so users can push themselves up to stand easily.  Flip the stool over and it transforms into a padded kneeler with handles.  There are many battery-operated garden tool options for those that do not want to maintain gas-powered law tools such as leaf blowers, chain saws, string trimmers, sidewalk edgers, and even lawn mowers.  Hand-held manual tools are also available with longer handles, for instance, to aid in pulling weeds for those that are unable to bend over.  A downed limb or branch can easily be used as a walking stick.  Another option to modify the gardening work is to hire someone to help.  Hiring a landscaping company or garden nursery can help overcome barriers and allow garden plans to move forward.  While this may be an expensive option, the benefits from the daily chores and movement required to tend a garden are impressive.  The cost of assistance is worth the price to avoid a sedentary lifestyle.

If you are interested in gardening but do not have access to a garden plot, consider volunteering at your local community garden.  Many communities have donated lots that have been turned into community gardens used to feed underserved populations with fresh fruits and vegetables.  If you would prefer to obtain gardening education prior to volunteering, your local university 4-H extension office has resources available to you.  The University of Illinois Urbana Champaign now offers Gardener Training classes online!  This class is the first step down the path toward the Master Gardener designation in Illinois.  Learn more here: Gardener Training

Resources:

Haijian Pang, and Huanhuan Tian. “How to Turn Different Gardening Techniques into Workouts as a Healthy Activity.” Journal of Sport Psychology / Revista de Psicología Del Deporte, vol. 33, no. 2, Apr. 2024, pp. 196–209. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=9364d648-508a-3272-8c1c-7c9d700f580e.

Murphy, Marie H., et al. “Does Doing Housework Keep You Healthy? The Contribution of Domestic Physical Activity to Meeting Current Recommendations for Health.” BMC Public Health, vol. 13, no. 1, Nov. 2013, pp. 1–13. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-966.