insideKENT Magazine Issue 41 - August 2015 | Page 146

OUTDOORLIVING

Gardening for the Elderly
A pastime enjoyed by almost half the population in the UK, figures show that more
than 60% of people aged 45 and over enjoy spending their leisure time gardening.
Gardening is a labour of love for many, with the
average gardener spending almost £30,000 on
gardening in their lifetime, as they chase the
dream of the perfect outdoor space. An activity
typically enjoyed by the older generation, the
concern is, as we age, it can become harder to
carry out even simple tasks due to the risk of
injury, leaving gardens to be reclaimed by
the wild.
But this doesn’t have to be the case. By making
some simple adjustments and alterations, you
can make your garden more manageable for you
and your ability, meaning you can still enjoy your
love of gardening without hurting yourself.
Planting flowers year after year can be a real
nightmare – not to mention, expensive. Spending
hours hunched over a flowerbed can play havoc
with your back and knees, but this can be a
thing of the past if you opt for perennial flowers.
Perennial comes from the Latin meaning 'through'
'year' and these are flowers that live for two
years or more. This doesn’t mean you have to
replace your entire flowerbed, but even planting
half perennial flowers could drastically reduce
your amount of work.
Perennial flowers are just as colourful and beautiful
as other flowers, so planting them will not make
your garden dull and colourless. Flowers include
chrysanthemum, alstroemeria, coneflower, aster
x frikartii and more.
Another backbreaking job is mowing the lawn.
First you have to get the lawn mower out of the

shed (which is usually cluttered with other bits),
and even then, petrol lawn mowers can be difficult
to start. Of course you then need to mow the
garden and get rid of any waste, yet this wouldn’t
be necessary if you were to think about installing
artificial grass. Artificial grass is plastic grass,
which never needs watering, mowing or weeding.
Artificial lawns have come a long way in recent
years, and are now more affordable and of much
better quality. Fake grass could save you from
many different jobs, leaving you more time to
enjoy your garden and do the bits you really
enjoy.
Artificial grass can also save a huge amount of
water; it’s estimated that for every square foot
of artificial grass, 55 gallons of water is saved a
year. Artificial grass is also perfect for children
and pets.
Gardening tools like the rake date back as far
as 1100 BC, and many others have very primitive
designs, as they were not designed with our
health and mobility in mind. This is why using
some tools can cause serious pain to arms, legs
and knees. However, gardening equipment
manufacturers have noticed this and have
designed and created tools suited to the older
generation and those with reduced mobility.
These could be particularly beneficial to some
gardeners whose health may be affected by
otherwise repetitive movements.
Finally, there are some jobs that there are no
artificial alternati ٕ́