Recent studies suggest that regular physical and mental activity can offer real benefits at any age. For many older adults, gardening is a meaningful way to spend their free time while enjoying a variety of health and wellness perks.
Whether you’ve been a lifelong plant lover or are thinking about starting your first garden, this hobby can be adapted to suit seniors with different abilities and experience levels.
In this blog, we’ll explain the benefits of gardening for seniors, share a few practical tips to boost your gardening skills, and suggest some easy ways to help you or someone you love get started.
The Benefits of Gardening for Older Adults
Tending to plants can be an excellent hobby for keeping active while enjoying the great outdoors.
Let’s take a look at some key benefits of gardening for older adults:
- Encourages Physical Activity: Whether pulling a few weeds, planting flowers, or watering your favorite herbs, gardening for seniors is a fantastic way to exercise your muscles and joints without putting too much strain on your body.
- Supports Emotional Well-Being: Research shows that gardening can lift your spirits, too. According to experts, caring for plants can provide a sense of accomplishment and help support emotional well-being.
- Improves Mobility and Flexibility: Nurturing plants and herbs in the garden can also help reduce stiffness in your muscles and joints, support better balance, and improve your range of motion, which may help lower the risk of falls.
- Supports Better Nutrition: Growing your own fruits, vegetables, or herbs is a great way to add fresh, nutritious food to your diet. These homegrown options taste better and are packed with vitamins and nutrients to help keep you energized throughout the day.
- Opportunities to Connect With Others: Whether you’re sharing tips with a neighbor, joining a gardening club, or swapping veggies with a friend, gardening offers plenty of natural opportunities to build meaningful connections.
- Improves Fine Motor Skills: Gardening for seniors can gently exercise the muscles in your hands and fingers. Caring for plants often involves slow, controlled movements, like digging, planting seeds, or trimming leaves, that may help maintain or even improve fine motor skills, which play a significant role in supporting independence.
Common Challenges Seniors Face in the Garden
If you’ve always loved spending time in the garden but now find certain tasks harder than they used to be, you’re not alone.
As we age, it’s normal to experience physical changes that can make some parts of gardening more challenging.
Here are some common challenges seniors may face in the garden:
- Joint Pain or Arthritis: Age-related conditions like arthritis or osteoporosis can make gardening uncomfortable. For some seniors, gripping small tools or performing twisting motions, like turning a hose valve, can be uncomfortable or even painful.
- Back Pain: Backaches are a common issue for many older adults, making tasks like lifting tools, repotting plants, or bending over garden beds difficult or uncomfortable.
- Fatigue or Low Energy: Gardening can be more demanding than it appears. Even 15 minutes in the sun can feel tiring for some seniors, so it’s best to avoid gardening for long periods on hot days.
- Reduced Hand Strength: As we age, our muscles naturally lose strength and flexibility. This can make it harder for some seniors to hold tools, open bags of soil, or twist the cap off a watering can.
- Vision Changes: Changes in eyesight, whether due to age or other conditions, can affect a person’s ability to see small weeds, read plant labels, or safely move around the garden.
- Sensitivity to Weather: If you’ve noticed your body doesn’t handle heat or cold like it used to, you’re not alone. Many seniors are more sensitive to temperature and sunlight, making gardening in extreme weather uncomfortable or even unsafe for some.
- Heavier Garden Tasks: Lifting bags of soil, turning compost, or carrying watering cans can feel too heavy or overwhelming, especially if you’re dealing with joint pain or limited mobility.
How to Make Gardening More Accessible for Seniors
While gardening for seniors offers many wonderful benefits, certain age-related changes, like weaker joints, arthritis, back pain, and limited mobility, can make traditional gardening more challenging for some older adults.
If you’re wondering how to garden as you get older, here are some practical tips to help make the experience more comfortable and enjoyable for you or someone you love:
Accessible Garden Design
A well-designed garden can make all the difference when it comes to your comfort and safety. An accessible garden layout helps make watering plants or moving around the garden safer and easier.
Using the Right Tools
To help reduce strain on your hands, wrists, and back, it’s always a good idea to use tools designed specifically for older adults gardening, like lightweight watering cans, padded kneelers, or garden aids like ergonomic pruners or long-handled weeders.
Raised Garden Beds
Raised garden beds bring the soil up to a more comfortable height, reducing the need to bend, stoop, or kneel. They’re beneficial for individuals with arthritis or limited strength. You may consider placing benches or stools nearby for extra support.
Container Gardening
A container garden can be a great alternative if you have limited space or only want to grow a few plants. You can place pots and planters on tables, railings, or stands at a comfortable height and use them to grow your favorite herbs, flowers, or even small vegetables.
Plant Selection
Choosing the right plants can help make gardening a more pleasant experience for seniors. Look for low-maintenance options that don’t require constant pruning, watering, or pest control. Herbs, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and marigolds are great for seniors. You may want to avoid plants that may cause skin irritation or heavy pots that can be difficult to move around.
How StoryPoint Group Communities Encourage Gardening
At StoryPoint Group communities, we’ve seen how gardening helps bring purpose, peace, and even a little fun into daily life. That’s why many of our communities across the nation offer gardening for seniors. In fact, one of our residents at Independence Village of Zionsville West is officially a master gardener.
Whether you’re returning to gardening or are looking to get your hands dirty for the first time, our communities will help you meet new friends with whom to share your love for plants. To learn more about living with us, schedule a tour of a StoryPoint Group community closest to you.
Senior Living With StoryPoint Group Communities
At StoryPoint Group communities, our residents’ needs are at the heart of everything we do. Our goal is to help each resident make the most of each day, in a way that’s most meaningful to them.
Whether you’re looking for a relaxed lifestyle with convenient access to amenities and plenty of social opportunities, need additional support with activities of daily living (ADLs), or simply want a place to call home, we’d love to be part of your journey.
To learn more about life with us or just to say hello, feel free to contact us or give us a call at 1-844-275-9990.
