How to Rake Without Ache

Raking and bagging is a time-honored strategy for dealing with fallen autumn leaves. Despite the popularity of using leaf blowers and leaf vacuums (detailed here,) raking is still most people’s method of choice – because it works so well. Here are ways to ensure that your raking is as painless as possible this year. 1. [...]

Five Painless Tips For Arthritic Gardeners

Is your green thumb arthritic? Mine is. And so are my knees and shoulders. According to the Center for Disease Control: “The various forms of arthritis affect more than 15 percent of the U.S. population—over 43 million persons—and more than 20 percent of the adult population, making arthritis one of the most common conditions in [...]

Helping Your Plants Beat the Heat

In a couple of recent Painless Garden articles, we’ve discussed the dangers that gardeners face in summer heat and how to avoid them. But what about your plants? Here are proven tips to help your painless garden weather the spiking heat index too. Whatever your thoughts about so-called global warming, simple observation suggests that weather [...]

Avoiding Heat-related Illness

In another Painless Garden article, we looked at the common illnesses that affect gardeners in the heat – heat cramps, heat rash, heat exhaustion and the potentially fatal heat stroke. Avoiding these is always important but is crucial if you’re older, less physically robust or on certain medications. First, consider your personal situation Are you [...]

Four Serious Summer Gardening Illnesses To Avoid

It’s two weeks until the official start of summer and the temperature in my painless garden is 99 degrees today. Sheesh. Can you imagine how hot it’s going to be in August? So, that prompts me to write a few entries on hot weather gardening and how to keep it painless – and safe. First, [...]