Ideas please

[Tealblue2]

hi all. As fountains of knowledge, I wondered if anyone had any magic tricks to help me use a strimmer and lawnmower with less pain? These two seems to cause me more pain in my hands than anything else. Thank you!

[OSTEOARTHRITISRA]

Hi it is hard If no alternatives

I switched to

Cordless

Lightweight plastic no wires Strimmer

And cordless light weight lawnmower

Small garden though

My only alternatives was get someone

But prices extortionate

Hand still sore a bit afterwards but did find the above a bit better

Maybe some Gardner may come along with ideas

Even get a one off job done to stay on top off garden

[Lolabridge]

The best advice I can give is get someone else to do it! Plenty of students who have just finished their exams are looking to earn some cash over the summer. You don’t need a gardener - mowing lawns and strumming is not difficult and you can be there to supervise.

[Braecoon]

I still like to do gardening. For me, I have to get my head around that everything doesn’t have to be done at once, especially if you are in a good place with your RA. Breaking the tasks down into manageable bite size proportions with plenty of rest breaks and allowing yourself several days to complete tasks works for me. Does it matter if you have only managed to cut half the hedge on one day because the vibrations of the hedge cutter have aggravated your joints or fatigue has overwhelmed? I am a perfectionist and have learned to accept that a chore may take me a day or 2, or more, and recuperative breaks are essential. The whole hedge will get finished eventually but there is no point in making yourself bed bound because you over did what your body is capable of. Don’t get me wrong it has taken 10 years for me to learn how to pace myself, and sometimes I still revert back to perfection thinking or succumb to overdoing it.

My friends have suggested having a gardening party whereby we rotate around each other gardens over a month and provide help to each other followed by some food and fun to finish the session off. You’ll be surprised how much can be achieved with extra pairs of hands from able bodied friends and tasks for you could be as simply as picking up the hedge trimmings or sitting down and weeding a flower bed, spraying weed killer, etc.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Braecoon]

Love your idea of a ‘garden party’. You’re right, I think pacing yourself is the secret. We’ve got a very lightweight hedge trimmer and although I love using it - it brings out the frustrated hairdresser in me - I have learned to do things in short bursts.

We have ended up with two Flymos - one with a grass collection box for when we’re (that’s the royal we - it’s my other half who does it these days, I could if I wanted to do but he seems to enjoy it 😉 )feeling fit and one without where the grass cuttings are left behind.

We hardly ever use the strimmer - we both prefer to use a pair of very lightweight long handled edging shears.

I also have a fold out kneeler - one way up it makes a little stool, the other way is for kneeling with handgrips. I bought it for my husband when he was needing a hip replacement but I use it now, it’s great for weeding, I really love it.

[Tealblue2 in reply to Braecoon]

Oh I love to garden!

Unfortunately my RA is not in a good place at the moment. But I only have a small garden and wanted to mow the lawn so I could sit out there (it’s over a foot tall because I left it too long)

Have learnt the very hard way that pacing is absolutely the key. But unfortunately life hasn’t made it easy for that to be possible in the last couple of years. I guess I’m still looking for the magic answer - asking for help may be it.

Thank you 🙂

[KittyJ in reply to Tealblue2]

Can you find someone to do it for you for a while until you’re able to do it yourself again? Family, friends or a neighbour or ask on local social media as people in my village have done the same for others when they are unable to.

[Deeb1764]

I now get hubby to do it but before I had a harness type and this helped a lot

[ruth_p]

Robomower? Although the grass is probably too long for that at the moment.

[Stills]

sorry no answers to gardening as I can’t use my hands at all for that unfortunately. Hubby digs holes and I pop the bulbs in and that’s my limit. For other jobs I pace myself with household tasks like ironing etc 30 minutes at a time to avoid aggravating wrists, elbow and rib pain. I do have a tip for gadgets with press and hold buttons, especially hairdryers in hotels, I have some industrial strength elastic bands and hubby wraps them on things I want to use that require press and hold. It works well on hairdryers and some kitchen appliances. Hope you find a solution and can enjoy your garden.

[cyberbarn]

My son has a connective tissue disorder which causes pain as well as fatigue, and he has taken to using a scythette, sickles and occasionally a full size scythe. They are far more environmentally friendly, faster than a trimmer, and quieter too. And much easier to do little and often. He often does 5-10 minutes a day. He will tackle a small bit of the garden rather than try to get the whole thing done at once, and because it is so easy to pick up and put down the scythette it is easy to just do a little bit at a time.

The key is to keep the blades sharp, which is a skill that has to be honed (pun intended!). But he finds that very relaxing and easy to do too. He is completely self taught from Youtube videos.

[Tealblue2]

thank you for your ideas. I’ve never heard of these and will do some research.

[Green230461]

pay a gardener! I love to LOOK at gardens and smell flowers but not do anything 🥰

[whitedog]

I don't have a lawn but I have a hedge at the front and an overgrown jungle surrounding a gravelled area at the back.

I struggle with my cordless hedge trimmer now, even after swopping the battery for a lighter one, so I bought a Stihl HSA 26 - a handheld cordless tool with two blades for cutting shrubs and grass. Shopped around and found a place selling it with a free spare battery.

Managed to do the hedge over about 4/5 days with it and I've started using the grass blade to cut through the really long weeds. It's quite satisfying! You need to be able to operate a flick switch and button together to start it, which I can just about still do.

Luckily, my neighbour is a retired parks gardener so he helps sometimes. And if I don't manage to get back to a state where I can dig out the weed roots, I'll pay someone.

[WilfDog]

As others have said, go for lightweight and cordless and pace yourself. I'm not always the best at doing this, despite having had sJIA for 51 years, however this is the best way to get tasks done. I love gardening, but I do get frustrated by not being able to do certain things. The garden party idea sounds perfect! Good luck with it. x

[Lotttie4]

As so many others have suggested, pacing yourself is the way forward, not always easy to do if you are the impatient type (me included), but seems the best way. An hour or so a day, you get there eventually and protect your joints. Happy gardening, it is a lovely pastime to have, enjoy.

[Tealblue2]

oh I do know pacing is the key! Not so easy as a full time single mum who works full time (until I lost my job because I couldn’t do it after a flare that has gone on 6 weeks) - I was kinda hoping someone would have a genius idea about how to limit the vibrations from these machines. But that was perhaps wishful thinking

I’m going to get a gardener in to do the big work as I haven’t been able to do anything in a year. Then I’m going to keep on top of it, an hour a week (once I’ve found another job)

[strongmouse]

I use an electric lawn mower which I find quite easy to use - just walk up and down the garden! Previously tried a hand held hover mower but found that difficult to manage turning it round corners.