Mar 10, 2015

It’s tempting to get out and work hard in the garden, especially after too many days of cold, wet, ice, and snow. Here’s what you need to know if you overdo it.

If you normally sit at a desk every workday, it’s easy to feel the effects of any new variety of work and gardening is no exception. Even if you exercise regularly—walking, running, biking, or even doing yoga—gardening will use different muscles and joints, which you may feel the day after your first foray into the great outdoors. Try the following to alleviate your gardening aches and pains:
• Apis mel for pale swellings  and stings
• Arnica for muscle soreness and bruising, particularly from contusions.
• Belladonna  for swollen joints—but only as prescribed by your homeopath
• Ginger for inflammation and stiffness, best to use fresh
• Rhus tox for stiff joints that improve with motion

Also take these preventative measures:
• Apply sunscreen before you go out
• Wear gardening gloves and a hat
• Take breaks to stay hydrated
• Choose sturdy footwear for most gardening jobs
• Let tools—not your back—do the heavy work
• Know what poison ivy looks like and avoid it
• Tuck you pants in and wear boots
• Check yourself for ticks which can transmit Lyme’s disease
• Hire help

Last but not least, when you pass the “last frost” date for your area, plant herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme) and lavender for their therapeutic properties and then take time to enjoy your garden and its bounty, not just work in it.