Gardening in Spring

What’s the most popular recreation for Baby Boomers? Gardening - of course. Who hasn’t spent a relaxing few minutes in the garden pulling some weeds, hand watering the pot plants, or picking some fresh home grown herbs? Well if you haven’t then now is the time to start. Spring is one of the most exciting times in the Garden. It's when all our hard work over autumn and winter pays off, and when nature surprises us once more with her bounty.  

We have chosen to independently review information on gardening available from the Botanical Garden Associations and other organisations.

Why is Gardening so great for us?

1.   It gets us out in the fresh air,  and is great gentle exercise, making it ideal for our Preventative Health strategy.

2.   Tuning in with nature is good soul food.

3.    In today’s busy world, it can help us to slow down and ‘smell the Roses’.

4.   Cut fresh flowers, herbs or vegetables are good for our sense of wellbeing, and our health.

Tips To Improve The Exercise Benefits of Gardening

We need to look after ourselves while gardening, and get a great workout at the same time, so here are some tips:

• Change positions and stance every few minutes to avoid feeling stiff, eg. crouch, kneel, stand and then bend. 

• Combine stretching with light gardening activities, such as the "lunge and weed." Lunge forward with one leg, weed for about 10 seconds, then stand up and alternate legs. 

• When raking, digging or hoeing, alternate your grip. If you're right-handed, rake first with a right-handed grip, then switch to a left-handed grip. 

• Avoid staying on your knees too long, or hunching your back and neck muscles for long periods. Take frequent breaks, look up at the sky and stretch out by doing some pruning in between. By varying your overhead pruning activities with bending and weeding, you’ll take a load off specific muscles and get in a little "cross-training." 

• Repetitious activities improve fitness and help avoid injuries. You will get more exercise taking smaller loads in your wheelbarrow and making more trips than you will by making fewer trips with heavier loads (listening, Guys in particular? It’s not OK to be too ‘macho’ in the garden, no matter what you see on TV).

How Not To Get Hurt:

• Pay special attention to your back.

• Always lift with your knees bent, back straight, using your legs to raise your body up. This sounds easy, but it is almost contrary to what a body wants to do when lifting a heavy object.

• Be sure to reposition yourself frequently to distribute the "work" to different muscles. Avoid twisting that can lead to pulled muscles.

• Stretching is essential to reducing the risk of injuries, pain and stiffness - just like any good sports match, ‘warming up’ and ‘limbering down’ after gardening.

Essential Equipment:

• Garden gloves. 

• Comfortable clothing like a loose-fitting t-shirt and cotton shorts. 

• Well-fitting socks constructed of a fabric that keeps moisture away from the skin to prevent skin soreness. 

• Sturdy shoes or boots. 

• Hat and sunscreen. Even on overcast days the sun's rays can damage the skin. 

• Water, water, and more water.

Read more about Gardening for your Health at:

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/Gardening_for_health

Spring is the time to…… get ready for Summer, fertilise and prepare those vegetable patches for another crop, plant early vegies, fertilise bulbs, keep a look out for pests and generally undertake cleanup and essential preparation.

Get the garden ready for Summer:

• Prune perennials and shrubs, and tidy and fertilise herbs

• Start preparing to plant flowers and vegetables for Summer show

• fertilise garden beds with organic compost and manure, and pot plants with all purpose fertiliser

• Watch out for pests in the Garden - they love the onset of the warmer weather

Try some great Tips & Hints from stores such as Mitre 10 – Barrow & Bench in Adelaide at this link:

http://www.barrowandbench.com/garden.html  

Or find your local Mitre 10 Store at http://www.mitre10.com.au/My-Mitre-10/

Some great Gardening Links:

Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney               - http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/

Brisbane Botanic Gardens                      - http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:BASE:1221530218:pc=PC_1368

Royal Botanic gardens Melbourne          - http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/

WA Araluen Botanic Park                        - http://www.anbg.gov.au/chabg/bg-dir/araluan-wa.html

Adelaide Botanic Gardens                       - http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/botanicgardens/

Darwin Botanic Gardens                          - http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/parks/botanic/

Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens      - http://www.rtbg.tas.gov.au/

ACT Canberra National Botanic Gardens - http://www.anbg.gov.au/anbg/index.html

Directory of Australian Botanical Gardens and Arboreta         - http://www.anbg.gov.au/chabg/bg-dir/

Visit Beautiful Gardens through the Open Garden Scheme     - http://www.opengarden.org.au/

Weeds in Australia – Australian Government Information Site - http://www.weeds.gov.au/

Link for this review

Follow this link to the Botanical Gardens Australia Website for more information and details on the source of this review. http://www.anbg.gov.au/chabg/bg-dir/

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Disclaimer: The information contained in this section should not be used for individual medical or professional advice  Please see your Doctor if you have concerns or specific questions relating to your health or seek professional advice as required.