Rachel Baer, 56, loves working in her large garden in East Lyme, Conn., but over time the big jobs have become more physically taxing. Last year, she decided to create a garden with plants designed to attract bees and butterflies. “I had a huge amount of soil delivered,” she says, but distributing it around the garden, something she used to be able to do in one day, had to be spread out over several days. “It was one wheelbarrow at a time,” says Baer, who teaches yoga to seniors. “I had to accept that I wouldn’t get it done at the same speed and rate as I would have in the past.” 

Gardening can be harder on aging bodies. Joints stiffen up, kneeling for prolonged periods hurts, and bending and reaching can strain muscles. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up this hobby. You just may need to