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Gardening with your back in mind.

As the days become warmer and longer, our thoughts will soon turn to our gardens. As a nation we love our gardens and spend many an hour in them lovingly tending to the plants; however, as we rush out to dig beds and plant vegetables take a moment to think of your back.

There is a risk that gardeners may injure themselves. What everyone wants is to be fit and healthy enough to actually relax in their garden and enjoy the fruits of their labours, so we thought it would be a good idea to share some helpful tips with you.

Think of gardening like a sport. Gardening involves a lot of bending over as you pull up weeds, sow bulbs, check plants and harvest crops, which can place strain on the lower back. Gardeners also have to lift heavy objects fairly regularly, including bags of soil, fertiliser, and garden tools.

Warm up. Gardening is like any other exercise; you need to warm up first. Don’t go straight into heavy garden work; start off with lighter jobs as this will lessen the chance of muscle strain. It is also a great idea to do some gentle stretches before you begin.

Clever pruning. Get as close as possible to the things you are pruning and avoid over-stretching to reach the area you are dealing with.

Take a break. Vary your activity by spending no more than 20-30 minutes on any one thing and make sure you take regular breaks.

Use a kneeler seat. There are several tools available which make gardening a more comfortable activity. Kneeler seats are one of the best tools because they allow you to kneel as you perform activities like weeding, planting bulbs or sowing seeds. Kneeling is much better for your back than continually bending over.

But most of all enjoy being outside in the garden and if you do happen to twinge your back we are here to help!






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