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Back pain can cause problems for gardeners, taking away the pleasure and benefits of gardening. Ignoring the condition when working in the garden, can actually make the pain worse.

However, making a few changes and taking a few simple precautions like using the correct tools and changing your garden layout, can help alleviate the pain. Bringing back the pleasure of gardening, also providing the exercise that can be beneficial to back pain sufferers.

Making a few simple changes to the layout of your garden and the way you carry out gardening tasks. Reading through the information in this article and discussing it with family and friends.  To work out what changes you can realistically make. Really can help in making your decision to either ENJOY or AVOID  gardening.

• ENJOY; Carry on or restart sowing seeds, growing stuff and reaping the harvest. Not only the fresh produce, but the feeling of well-being you get from being outside, doing something you enjoy.
• There's a bonus too, careful exercise you get from gardening can actually help improve bad backs.
• AVOID; Stop gardening altogether, sit in your chair, watch television, now and then glancing through the window at your garden thinking about what might have been.

Let's face it, digging is always going to be difficult with an existing back problem, but yes, there are a few things we can do to alleviate the problem.

The first is to accept that some of the problem is self-inflicted albeit without realising what we are doing, like our body alignment (posture) and repetitive stress injuries. As we get older it gets more difficult to correct these problems. I'm definitely not an expert on correct posture, but some things are fairly obvious; for example people who  are slightly round shouldered as apposed to those that walk tall and straight are more likely to suffer from neck and back problems in later life.

Digging the garden is a one-legged activity one foot on the spade with your knee and hip joints bent while your other leg will be straight. Firmly planted on the ground holding your body stable and your back slightly twisted and stooped toward the digging leg. The use of one leg for one part of the task the other leg for the other part of the task. With your back taking the strain over and over again results in some muscles strengthening while others weaken, but over the years this repeated action can also damage the joints.

 There are, however, actions we can take to lessen the risk of damaging our joints through repetitive stress injuries and poor posture when digging.

• Try switching the digging foot from row to row. Dig a section with your right foot on the spade, then dig the next bit with your left foot.
• Try to avoid muscle and joint strain by using your body weight by leaning your weight toward the ground. Using your body weight to push the fork or spade into the soil instead of pushing or thrusting the shovel into the ground.
• To lift a spade full of soil out of the ground. Use your body weight by leaning back and using your foot to lever the spade full of earth out of the ground.
• When moving the soil, don't twist your spine by throwing it over your shoulder, lifting and twisting at the same time will put strain on your back. Instead, turn your whole body around, not just your spine, and walk with the spade to where you want the soil.
• Stop digging when your body tells you it has had enough for the day. Little and often will get the digging done!
• Check with your doctor if you haven't already done so before changing your routine.

Correct posture when walking, lifting and bending over is important.

Take breaks to rest and have a stretch.

Not staying in one position for too long, especially when leaning or bending down helps, so alter your position regularly as you dig, weed or plant. 

Using adapted gardening tools with the right size handles that are lightweight and avoiding using heavy watering cans lesson the strain on your back. More about adapted gardening tools on my page  tools for the disabled. 

Where possible use tools with long handles that reduce your need to stretch. Most tools can be extended by fitting specially designed extensions or telescopic arms.

Keep smaller tools in a holster on your belt to save bending down to pick them up.

Loppers and pruners with a ratchet mechanism and blades that are kept sharp help reduce the strain on your back.

You can have a look at a selection of  specially adopted gardening tools for gardening with a painful back here  tools for the disabled.

Bare patches encourage weeds to grow, mulching the surface of the soil with bark, compost from your compost heap or well rotted manure shuts out the weeds and helps to retain the soils moisture, saving on watering. Planting ground cover plants or laying a weed suppressant material and planting through it also helps keep borders weed free.

Raising flower and vegetable beds will reduce the need for bending, especially if they are raised to waist level. I have included a lot more information on my raised garden page.  Keeping the beds narrow reduces stretching and bending across to work. Even the most basic raised bed made from old car tyres can dramatically reduce back strain as you won't need to bend over your garden for long periods.

Lawns even small ones, are high maintenance  needing regular mowing during spring summer and autumn. Wildflower lawns need less maintenance and can be interesting and fun.

Steep steps can put a lot of strain on your back, consider adapting them to have more steps with lower rises or even a gently rising ramp. Bear in mind the more steps you build the further the steps will need to run. It's better to build the steps backwards into the border rather than forward, causing a trip hazard. If adapting the step isn't feasible adding handrails could help take the strain of your back.