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During the most recent UF/IFAS Extension Florida Master Gardener Volunteer Training Conference, Madeline Hooper and fitness trainer Jeff Hughes, the hosts of the PBS series "GardenFit," offered a number of useful and safe approaches to staying healthy and aligned. Following are a few of the highlights from both that presentation and their television program.
We know how important having the right gardening tools in the right condition are to ensuring landscape plants receive the proper care they need to survive and thrive. All too often, though, it seems we neglect the most important tool of all, ourselves. We tend to dig into our outdoor chores, giving little attention to preparing ourselves for the day's activities. The result: our bodies remain out of balance, resulting in a mixed bag of aches and pains.
What can we do about this situation? Rather than proceeding full speed ahead, begin by scanning your posture and stance and paying attention to body positioning when preparing to work in the garden. Take note of what may be keeping you out of balance and take steps toward correction. Some suggestions include feet grounded a distance apart rather than close together, upper torso lifted and shoulders squared for good posture and positioning. Keeping grounded and mindfully aware of your posture is an important first step toward alignment.
Have you considered "mixing it up" when gardening? If you have a few items to tend to in your landscape, such as weeding, pruning, trimming and mulching, rather than focusing all your effort on one task before moving on to the next item on your list, consider trading out activities to lessen wear and tear on your body.
For example, rather than spending your entire morning weeding by hand or laying mulch, which could cause considerable lower back strain, change to another activity after a half hour or so. You could reach up to prune a tree for a short while, again keeping your feet firmly planted, and then move on to pruning bushes before returning to weeding. Rather than standing with your feet together when tending to bushes, try placing one foot in front of the other, with the front knee slightly bent for a nice stretch and better control. Mindfully working a variety of muscles while gardening is great exercise.
While the tendency is often to work with our dominant hand and from our dominant side, consider switching back and forth between your dominant and non-dominant sides when working in the garden. For example, alternate between right and left hands when using your trusty pruners. Doing so will help to balance you out. Although the switch will probably feel very awkward at first, with practice and over time you should feel more comfortable, and you will be building a positive habit along the way.
Final thought: Always adhere to safe gardening practices and keep your health care provider in the loop. If you happen to have some pre-existing health issues and are wary of doing anything that may aggravate those conditions, you may find that, with some simple adjustments and mindful exercises you can handle more than imagined!
Until next time ... happy gardening!
Janetta Fox is a Lee County Master Gardener Volunteer and member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral. Visit us at gardenclubofcapecoral.com.
Source: "GardenFit," created by Madeline Hooper & Jeff Hughes, PBS, 2022.