The Unique Tool That Offers A Knee-Saving Solution For Gardeners

Gardening provides a means of exercise while growing your own healthy fruits and veggies or pretty flowers. It can even have a positive mental impact. The psychological benefits of gardening can include a reduction in stress, stronger attention, and better self-esteem. However, you shouldn't have to sacrifice your physical health at the altar of self-care gardening. Gardening is a prime candidate for repetitive strain injuries in the muscles, tendons, and nerves, commonly affecting your knees, given you need to get directly into your garden bed. It's recommended that you cushion your knees when crouching, and a leg-braced knee seat might be just the essential tool you need to better your gardening.

Typical tools used to curb this gardening pain include strap-on DIY knee pads and dedicated garden kneelers, which are portable cushions attached to long handles that can sometimes be locked into higher positions as a makeshift bench. A leg-braced knee seat is slightly different than those standard options. The tool is little more than two pads attached to opposite ends of J-shaped rods, with the longer side able to strap onto your knee. Once you start kneeling, the other end of the hook is perfectly positioned to give you a comfortable place to sit and rest your back.

A knee seat might be the perfect solution to make kneeling tolerable for long stretches of gardening (or other activities like DIYing your own brick floor). Knee seats, such as the Tolerdwum Strap On Kneeling Device and Heyiom Kneeling Knee Brace Seat, are available online and retail between $30 and $50. Knee seats should work for anyone, be they a professional or a home hobbyist, and the ergonomic aspects mean it's a good investment compared to the easier process of repurposing thrift store pillows. Being able to spend more time comfortably on one's knees has casual applications too, like being able to get down low and play with little ones or pets.

On the downside, attaching a bulky apparatus to your leg makes it more awkward to maneuver than cushioning options like knee pads. However, unlike knee pads, you only need one brace seat (having one on each leg could cause the devices to bump into each other). Plus, having a place to sit provides better ergonomic posture that can reduce fatigue and soreness. But of course, when out in the garden, it can help switching up tasks to make sure you aren't straining your knees for extended stretches. You can also try gardening in raised beds, reducing the need to kneel in place of other postures like sitting.