The best ergonomic gardening tools for arthritis

One of the easiest ways to make gardening more manageable with arthritis is to raise up your garden beds. With an elevated planting area, you won’t have to bend over to tend your plants, which will reduce strain on your back. These wooden beds come in a few sizes, and there’s a slatted shelf down below where you can store your tools. Just keep in mind that assembly is required, but it goes quickly if you have a power drill to insert the screws. 

Straight-handled hand tools aren’t the best option for people with arthritis. Instead, you’ll want to look for tools with ergonomic grips, like this hand trowel. The lightweight shovel weighs less than a pound, and its curved handle is much more comfortable for arthritic hands to grip. 

Gardeners rave about both the durability and ergonomic design of this hand trowel: “I have had this style of trowel for years, and it has been my go-to gardening tool. I use it for planting, weeding, everything,” writes one reviewer, who calls it the most comfortable trowel she’s ever owned. “I love that it has a long blade, and it is so strong that it does not bend when I am muscling up stubborn weeds. The ergonomic style saves my wrists, which this arthritis patient really appreciates.”

If weeds are the bane of your existence — but it hurts your back to pull them out — you should definitely invest in this best-selling tool. Grampa’s Weeder makes it quick and easy to yank out unwanted plants from a standing position, and it’s particularly effective on weeds with tap roots, such as dandelions. 

This tool also gets the seal of approval from many arthritis suffers — as well as 60,000 other reviewers: “No more kneeling on these seasoned knees. No more bending over until I see stars and need a chiropractor. And no more inflaming my arthritis just trying to reclaim my flower beds,” writes a happy buyer. “Grampa’s Weeder is the bomb diggity. Bottom line? This is my new favorite garden sidekick.”

If you struggle to prune your plants and cut through vines with regular sheers, an electric pruner is worth the investment. All you have to do is press the trigger, and the battery-powered tool will slice through branches up to 1.5 inches thick — no manual squeezing needed!

“As a single, 67-year-old woman, I needed something to make my life easier as a gardener,” explains one buyer. “The battery operated pruning cutters are easy to use, fast cutting, and the battery lasts through my project of the day. I’ll never go back to hand pruning shears again.”

My mother loves this little scooter, which she uses to navigate around the garden. It has a handle that you can use to move it around, as well as a little basket in back to stash your tools. Plus, the seat swivels so you can reach all the plants around you without turning the scooter itself. 

“This makes working in the garden so much easier on my back,” explains a five-star Amazon reviewer. “It’s sturdy and the seat is comfortable and rotates. This is our second purchase so my husband could use one out in our other garden.”

For those bigger gardening tasks where pruners aren’t quite strong enough, this cordless mini chainsaw will make quick work of branches, logs, and vines. It has a 6-inch blade and weighs less than 3 pounds, and older reviewers say it’s surprisingly effective for yardwork: “I’m 65 with a touch of arthritis in my fingers and I do a lot of gardening. I’ve had some shrubs and things that need pruning or just cutting down, and even the best pruning shears won’t cut it. This glides through some pretty thick branches and roots with ease. I’m very happy with it.”

The Arthritis Foundation has a list of Ease of Use products that have been specifically designed and certified to aid people with arthritis, and this hose has earned the special seal. In particular, it has Flexon’s Guard-N-Grip connector, an ergonomic slip-resistant handle that lets you use your whole hand to attach the hose onto the faucet, helping reduce wrist and finger strain. The hose itself comes in three length options, and the product is manufactured in America. 

This is another product that’s earned the Ease of Use seal from the Arthritis Foundation. The handle is designed to minimize stress on the wrist and hands to help alleviate joint pain, and it’s also lightweight and easy to turn on thanks to the sliding thumb control. The nozzle has five spray patterns, and its body is made from metal for maximum durability.

People with arthritis confirm that this nozzle is much easier to operate than squeeze-handle models: “My mom has a lot of dexterity issues because of arthritis, and this is the easiest sprayer she’s ever used — she replace all of hers at her house with these,” writes an Amazon shopper.  

This folding kneeler offers multiple benefits to older gardeners. If you need to get down low to plant or weed, it provides comfortable cushioning for your knees, but you can also flip it over and use it as a seat when you need to take a break. Plus, its sturdy metal handles provide support so you can push up onto your feet. It even comes with a tool pouch that hangs on the side. 

While it’s great for gardening, many reviewers say they use this handy bench for a variety of other tasks, too: “I use my kneeler bench for so much more than weeding. It’s good for that, but also great for any thing you do that requires kneeling — cleaning baseboards, wiping spots on the floor, looking under furniture for your misplaced remote. The best thing about this little wonder is that it really does help you stand, once you are down on the floor, and it really does serve as a comfy seat.”

The ProPlugger is another long-handled gardening tool that saves you from having to bend over. It allows you to dig holes up to 6 inches deep — perfect for planting bulbs — and it can also be used for weeding or pulling up sod plugs. 

“I am amazed at the effectiveness and ease of this tool,” raves one older gardener. “I’m in my 60s with some arthritis and find working in our natural heavy clay soil harder these days. This tool helped me effortlessly dig holes with just my body weight.”

Ditch the unwieldy wheelbarrow and use this convenient dump cart instead. The four-wheeled design is infinitely more stable, and it makes it easy to move around dirt, mulch, and even plants. It can hold up to 600 pounds, and its unique dumping system makes it effortless to empty out your load. 

If you need more convincing that this cart is worth the investment, just read some of its glowing reviews, many of which are from older adults: “I am an 81 year old female with a small market garden. This cart is PERFECT. I can load it with mulch with a pitchfork, drag it thru small spaces, and singlehandedly dump where needed on the paths.”

This handy 3-in-1 tool is another one of my mom’s favorites. It’s essentially a string trimmer, but it comes with a removable wheeled base that lets you push it along the ground instead of having to hold it up. Its unique design takes the strain off your arms and back, and the handle is even height-adjustable to make it more ergonomic. 

My mom isn’t the only one who loves this “lawn mower” — it has dozens of positive reviews from arthritis sufferers: “As an aging lady with LOTS of arthritis, I absolutely LOVE this little machine! It’s comparable to running a vacuum cleaner, only this thing is lighter than a vacuum! It cuts great, it’s small so you can maneuver it around shrubs and other hard-to-reach places, and it’s electric so there’s no gas/oil mess to deal with.”

If you have large planters that you drag around your house or patio throughout the year, it’s worth investing in this top-rated plant caddie. The wheeled base has locking caster wheels that roll smoothly over any surface, making it effortless to move around even your biggest plants. (I’m tempted to buy one for my mom’s oversized Bird of Paradise that she drags outside every summer!)

These handy caddies have more than 7,000 Amazon reviews and an impressive average rating of 4.7 stars. “These are wonderful for your heavy potted plants. I am an older person and I find it easy to move my plants around. The product is well made and wheels easy roll,” says one five-star reviewer. 

You’ll be able to easily move around all your gardening tools with this upright storage caddy. It has large wheels that will roll over any terrain, as well as a handle for easy pulling. The caddy has space for long-handle tools, as well as pockets for items like gloves, seed packets, and more. 

Reviewers say this cart is extremely well-made and easy to use: “This product is UNBELIEVABLY well made. The quality will last a lifetime. The functionality is brilliant,” raves one happy gardener. “Totally worth the price, don’t hesitate to buy, especially if you’re an older gardener or have limited abilities to garden.”