Garden Guy column: Some reminders
Spring has sprung and with it come activities that we have not been doing for months. Even if you maintain a physically active lifestyle, gardening activities are likely to be different and use different muscles than you have recently been using. Just as with any physical activity, you should warm up and stretch before engaging in the bending, squatting, lifting, and stretching that occurs while working in your gardens.
Use appropriate tools to help carry heavy loads like moving soil amendments or large bags of potting soil. Remember to lift with your legs, not with your back to avoid back injury. This means that you should stick your rear out to keep your back straight. I also shift from kneeling to bending to squatting with some frequency. Different plants require working at different heights, so vary your work accordingly to change positions. This eases muscle use and allows muscles to rest.
I have found that many of my strains and other injuries occur from trying to cut corners. Perhaps the most common no-no that I do is trying to make do with the tools I have rather than get the proper tool. Hand pruners are my most often used and most abused tools.
For example, since I nearly always carry pruners and a weeder with me while doing anything in the gardens, I often will find something needing to be pruned, but it may be larger than my pruner is made to cut. I usually try anyway and the result, whether I get it cut or not, generally is a hand or wrist strain. Use the proper tool for the job.
Although there are many ergonomic tools and other devices that make gardening easier and assist with gardening safely, the best tool to use is your head. Think about what you are doing and how to do it safely. There are proper ways to lift objects, to reach, and even to bend over.
The need for concern about these activities is also the reason that gardening is good for us. It gives us exercise that uses different parts of the body, helps with balance as we grow older and, at least for me, gives a mental lift by working outside.
Just as we should treat our bodies right by eating properly and exercising, we should also be thoughtful in the care of ourselves while gardening. I have found that physical activities do not get easier with age nor does the recovery period from injury get shorter. Injury prevention should be task one.
Don’t forget safety when it comes to the use of chemicals. Although I do not use petroleum-based chemicals on my lawn and gardens, there are many good products that, if used responsibly, will serve you well. Understand your plants’ needs, the proper timing for the use of the product to achieve the desired result, and read and heed label instructions to get the best result with the least harm to your pocketbook, the environment, and your health.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Garden Guy: Some reminders about gardening safely
