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7 Back & Knee-Friendly Solutions for Gardeners

Published on March 8, 2017Last updated October 9, 2021 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

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Back and knee pain can limit garden time as we age. These accessible ideas make gardening easier and more comfortable so you can keep doing what you love.

For more, also see Free Plans for Building Raised Garden Beds.

Garden structures that help make gardening easier.

Garden Solutions for Bad Backs & Knees

Examples of back and knee-friendly garden solutions including tall raised beds.

If you love gardening like I do, you hope to be able to grow plants and tend a garden your entire life.

Whether you have a bad back or knees that won’t bend or let you get up or down, these ideas should help.

The number one way to make the garden more accessible is to grow at the height you can reach. In other words, let the plants come to you!

This could mean using raised garden beds, growing on a tabletop, or getting useful accessories like garden kneelers and pulleys for hanging baskets.

Whatever your needs, I hope you find ideas that will help you continue gardening.

1Salad Tables

Closeup of raised white garden salad table.
Tall white salad table planted with succulents

A salad table (in a garden) is basically a table with some sort of container on top for growing plants like salad greens that don’t need a lot of depth for their roots.

Now, if you’re a frugal person, there is no reason why you can’t just use a patio table and sit containers on top of it. Easy! There are also huge advantages to keeping your plants mobile in portable pots instead of having soil in a box.

White garden salad table planted with annuals.
Succulents growing in garden salad table

That said, I really love all the variations of salad tables that are popping up. If you use a wheelchair or need to sit while you work, get something that accommodates the chair.

If lifting or digging is a problem, using small containers within the box to make it more manageable without bending.

Here’s one on Amazon that comes with a cover for extending the growing season:

Raised salad table with vegetables
Raised bed salad table for easy access to vegetables

Growing leafy greens indoors at home.

Related: How to Grow Salad Greens Indoors at Home


2Staircase Plant Stands

I made this staircase plant stand from some wooden stair risers. You can buy them pre-cut so it’s really simple—basically you’re just adding boards for each step along with some side supports. I included the top bar to provide extra room for hanging planters.

Staircase plant stand decorated with plants.
Staircase plant stand with assorted potted plants

Again, if bending or kneeling is a problem, but standing is okay, the more you can get your garden up off the ground, the easier it will be to manage.

DIY staircase plant stand.
Staircase plant stand with potted vegetables, herbs, flowers, and strawberries

Wooden staircase stand used to hold potted plants.

Related: How to Build a Staircase Plant Stand (Beginner Project)


3Tall Raised Beds

Tall raised beds are my favorite way to keep vegetable plants away from the snails and rabbits and it is so much easier to manage when everything is up off the ground.

The one conundrum is, do I actually have to fill the whole thing with soil? And no, you don’t. Unless you’re growing a dwarf tree or shrub that will need a lot of root space, there’s no reason to fill the entire box with soil.

Instead, consider adding a false bottom, either temporary or permanent about a foot deep in the box. From there, you can line the box with good-quality landscape fabric (make sure it is ‘food-safe’), and add soil, or use containers instead.

Plants use up the nutrients in the soil, so, either way, you will need to replace or deeply enrich the soil each year to keep the plants happy.

Tall painted raised garden bed with vegetables and perennials.
Tall stained raised bed planted with vegetables and herbs

This next picture shows tall raised beds created for a gardener in a wheelchair. The driveway was sectioned off to provide a nice, smooth surface for the wheels.

Wheelchair accessible raised garden beds.
Wheelchair accessible vegetable garden pots and and raised beds

Here’s another style of tall raised bed. This one is built around a tree stump. This would not be recommended for a growing tree but fine for a tree stump.

If you like the idea of dressing up tree stumps, see creative tree stump ideas here.

Raised garden bed around a tree stump.
Raised bed built around a tree stump

This is the tall raised bed in my garden. You can see the construction process here.

I used the back support posts to create a privacy / wind shelter wall as well. I had extra soil available after building my pond, so I used it to fill the box.


This has ways to fill a tall raised bed without wasting good soil.

This tiered style layout is really attractive:

Tall wooden raised beds planted with fruits and vegetables.
Tiered raised garden beds

Raised garden bed with built-in privacy wall.

Related: DIY Raised Garden Bed with Privacy Fence


4Raised Bed Garden Pond

I built this garden pond in a raised bed because it was not possible to dig it into the ground.

As it turned out, this is a much better arrangement for a small pond. The height makes it much easier to reach the pump for cleaning.

If you don’t like getting down on the ground and reaching into a pond, I highly recommend a raised pond. The instructions for making the pond in a raised garden bed are here.

Garden pond built in a raised garden bed.

Small pond built in a raised garden bed.

Related: How to Build a Pond in a Raised Garden Bed


5Plant Shelves & Tables

With plants in smaller containers, growing on shelves and tables makes them much easier to manage.

Outdoor table with collection of potted plants.


This could be a display on your balcony or patio, or up on a fence or wall.

Colorful children's rain boots hanging on a garden fence, planted with flowers.

Growing in containers and window boxes can greatly reduce any need to kneel or bend over.

Potted plants on deck for easy access
Potted plants and window boxes on deck for easy access

Table top garden with flowering potted plants and various decorative treasures.

Related: Craving a Garden Makeover? Use These Thrifty Tips


6Keyhole Raised Beds

Keyhole-shaped vegetable garden
Keyhole-shaped vegetable garden

This keyhole style raised garden bed allows room for a moveable plank between the beds so you can sit while you work.

7Helpful Accessories

If you are gardening on a patio or balcony, these plant pulleys are an excellent option. You can hang the plant up high but easily pull it down for watering.

If you are gardening at ground level, these might be helpful.

The garden kneeler offers a sturdy place to grip while getting up, and a surface to sit (by flipping it upside-down) while working.

Another option is the wheelie chair cart. Make sure you get one that allows you to rotate the seat. Again, this can be much easier on the knees.

Happy gardening.

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛

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Examples of back and knee-friendly garden solutions including tall raised beds.
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Melissa J. Will - Empress of DirtWelcome!
I’m Melissa J. Will a.k.a. the Empress of Dirt (Ontario, Canada).
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