Weeding

  • Helps maintain stamina and energy levels
  • Helps to build up mobility level
  • Keeps up level of confidence

Raking

  • Helps to keep your lungs, heart and circulation healthy
  • Helps to burn off calories, keeping weight down
  • Helps increase suppleness, posture and co-ordination

Mowing

  • Helps with balance and mobility
  • Helps to boost confidence in moving to prevent accidental falls
  • Helps to increase muscle strength and bone density

For more information

Come and visit our backyard garden! Try out a range of easy-grip gardening tools and look at ways of growing flowers and vegetables in containers for easy access and low maintenance.

Age UK North Yorkshire, 33 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8EE Telephone 01609 771624

The gardening charity Thrive runs a website that gives lots of information about how anyone can continue gardening at home.Telephone 0118 988 5688

Age UK North Yorkshire is a Registered Charity (number 1124567) and Company Limited by Guarantee (number 6456185) Registered Office: 46-50 East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5RR. 10/15

GREENAGESGrowing Together Project

Gardening: The Health Benefits

What are the benefits of gardening?

  • Better physical health Just 30 minutes of gardening each day can help to use up calories, build up strength and stamina, keep your heart healthy and improve your balance. It can also help with dexterity and finger and arm strength.
  • Improved mental health Gardening can give people a sense of purpose, optimism and achievement as they work through the processes of nurturing seeds and plants and displaying a show of flowers or harvesting a crop of vegetables.
  • Social contact Gardening groups give opportunities for like-minded people to socialise and feel healthier as a result, helping to reduce isolation and improve self-esteem and confidence.
  • Development of skills People can learn new skills through structured gardening activities. Gardening groups allow people to exchange knowledge and work together co-operatively.
  • Access to the natural environmentResearch has shown that the natural environmentpromotes recovery from stress and as such gardens provide restorative environments. Growing food on windowsills, in containers and beds provides a source of vitamins and savings over shop-bought produce.

Gardening activities and their benefits(Thrive, 2010)

Sowing seeds

  • Gets you and your plants started
  • Helps hand and finger movement
  • Helps focus and coordination

Pricking out seedlings

  • Helps with stretching, relaxing and lengthening muscles
  • Helps to retain flexibility
  • Starts to build up confidence

Potting up plants

  • Starts to build strength and stamina
  • Helps retain hand and eye co-ordination
  • Helps improve and maintain sitting balance

Planting containers

  • Gets you started outside
  • Tones up muscles
  • Helps your muscles move as far as possible

Planting outside

  • Starts to increase energy levels
  • Helps to improve blood flow around your body
  • Helps to increase muscle strength and balance

Deadheading and pruning

  • Helps improve bending and reaching
  • Helps to keep muscles stretching and relaxing
  • Helps maintain standing or sitting balance