Gardening with Limited Mobility

Gardening provides a fun, low-impact workout for seniors. It helps them maintain flexibility, strength, and endurance. Plus, it relieves stress and can produce delicious, healthy homegrown foods.

But when starting a garden, seniors should consider obstacles which can result from aging. For example, mobility. Gardening helps you stay mobile, however if you have limited mobility it may be difficult to make your way through the garden. For some, a cane will make all the difference. Others may need more support, like that provided by a rollator. If you use a rollator, make sure to set up your garden with paths wide enough to get through. You may also want to use a narrower rollator, such as a 3 wheel rollator, instead of a 4 wheel rollator.

Another problem senior gardeners run into is arthritis. Fortunately, there are plenty of ergonomic hand tools available. If you have trouble bending, you may want to try a raised garden bed. Or if you have limited strength you may want to hire help for certain parts of the gardening. No need to do every single step yourself. For example, you could hire a landscaping company to do the mulching.

Sometimes senses fade as one ages, so take that into consideration too. You might want to plant particularly bright flowers, or strong smelling/tasting spices. That way you’ll get the most out of your gardening experience!