Spring is when most gardeners get injured — and not because of slippery soils or tool malfunctions. It’s because they get the notion to “pop out for a few minutes,” then come to their senses after six hours bending and hauling and pruning, only to realize they’ve overdone it.
Here are some quick tips for getting your garden into spring shape without sabotaging your own.
Stretch before, during and after you go out. Legs, hips, arms and torso all will be worked in the garden, so get your parts ready to go.
Break up activities by moving to something different every 30 minutes. If you’re pruning, try clearing off the debris every half hour to give your body something else to do. Don’t forget to go back to what you were doing to finish the job.
Pick one chore to do per day for the first couple of weeks. It’s not a race; it’s a marathon; that’s why pacing yourself is important.
If using loppers, hold your elbows closer in to the body and try not to reach out to lop something. Extending your arms with loppers stresses the shoulders, but if you can get closer to the plant and keep your elbows tucked, you’ll take the pressure off that vulnerable area.
Get pruners sharpened to help you avoid having to squeeze really hard to cut things. Hands are easily aggravated by compressing dull pruners or by using pruners on woody material that’s too large for them.
Remember, if you bend over to weed or clean out a garden, stand up often to stretch your back and legs. We can’t have gardeners hobbling back into houses, bent over in pain, unable to straighten up, moaning or crying out. It just gives gardening a bad name and frightens small children.
Carol O’Meara is with the Colorado State University Extension office at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont. Contact her at 303-678-6238 or by e-mailing comeara@bouldercounty.org. Colorado State University Extension, together with Boulder County Parks and Open Space, provides unbiased, research-based information about consumer and family issues, horticulture, natural resources, agriculture and 4-H youth development. For more information contact Extension at 9595 Nelson Rd., Box B, Longmont, (303) 678-6238, or visit the website at .
