The kneeling position gardeners over 70 now avoid – and the back‑friendly alternative physios prefer

Amelia Foster • December 10, 2025 16:49

The first sign is rarely a sharp pain. It’s the small pause, halfway up from the flowerbed, when your hands stay on your thighs a second longer than they used to. On a cool April morning in a Birmingham back garden, Margaret, 74, presses her palm into the soil, shifts weight onto one stiff knee and pushes herself upright with a soft groan she hopes no one hears. She’s used this same kneeling position since her thirties. Her roses don’t mind. Her back does.

A few weeks later, she’s at a “gardening without agony” talk at the local community centre. The physiotherapist clicks to a slide of a familiar pose - both knees down, bottom on heels, back curved over a row of weeds - and half the room nods. Then he says, almost gently: “That’s the one I’d like you to retire.”

No one wants to be told to give up the garden. The good news is, you don’t have to. But the way you kneel probably does need to change.

The gardening crouch your 30‑year‑old self loved

Most long‑time gardeners use some version of the same move. Both knees on the ground, or sometimes just one. Bum resting back towards the heels. Body folded forward over the bed, arms reaching into the plants. You might shuffle a few inches, twist to grab a tool, lean a bit further because you’re “just finishing this bit”.

When you’re younger and joints are forgiving, that deep kneel-plus-hunch feels stable and efficient. You’re close to the soil, your hands can move fast, and you don’t think twice about staying there for twenty minutes. The cost comes much later, when those same joints are thinner, drier and less keen on being folded and twisted at once.

Physiotherapists see the after‑effects in clinic all the time: sore knees that swell after a session, backs that “lock” when you try to stand, hip pain that flares at night after a big day in the allotment. The culprit isn’t gardening itself. It’s how long you stay in one unforgiving position.

Why this kneeling style bites after 70

Once you’re past 70, the body still responds brilliantly to movement, but it tolerates sustained, loaded bending much less kindly.

The discs in your spine are thinner and less springy. A long, rounded stoop squeezes the front of those discs again and again.
Knees with arthritis or past injuries complain when you sit back on your heels; the joint is pushed into extreme bend with all your weight on it.
Balance is often less reliable. Getting stuck in a deep kneel makes you more likely to grab for a pot or cane - and topple.

Stay in that crouch for ten or fifteen minutes, and blood flow to compressed tissues drops. Nerves grumble. When you try to stand, they answer back in the language of stabbing twinges and pins and needles.

It’s not weakness or “doing it wrong for years”. It’s biology catching up with habit.

The kneeling position physios now ask you to skip

When physiotherapists talk about the “no‑thanks kneel” for older gardeners, they usually mean a mix of two things:

Long kneel with a rounded spine
Both knees on the ground, bottom dropped fully onto your heels, chest almost over your thighs, head hanging. Hands working out in front, often reaching across the body. Think “nose nearly over the trowel”.
Twisted one‑knee lunge
One knee down, the other foot far out to the side, torso bent and rotated towards the planted area. You might be bracing one hand in the soil while the other reaches and twists.

The common threads are:

Deep bend in the knees or hips
Spine flexed forward instead of long and neutral
Reaching out beyond where your shoulders comfortably sit
Staying there, concentrating, until the discomfort breaks your focus

Held for a few seconds, these positions aren’t disastrous. Held for minutes at a time, day after day, they quietly load the bits of you that have the least wiggle room left.

That’s why many physios now encourage older gardeners to phase them out, not gardening itself.

The back‑friendly alternative: the “supported half‑kneel”

What do they prefer instead? A small, surprisingly powerful shift called the supported half‑kneel. It looks almost like a gentle lunge, not a crouch.

Here’s how most physios teach it:

Place a thick kneeling pad or folded mat beside the bed.
Put one knee on the pad, with your toes tucked under if it feels comfortable.
Bring the other foot forward, flat on the ground, so that knee is bent roughly 90 degrees (like the start of a step).
Keep your torso more upright, with a gentle forward lean from the hips, not a full curl of the spine.
Rest your forearm on the front thigh or on a low stool or crate beside you, so your back muscles are not doing all the work.
Work within arm’s reach of your front knee, not stretched right out in front of you.

Then - and this matters - you swap legs every few minutes, or whenever you stand to move along the row.

In this position:

Your spine stays nearer to neutral, so discs and small spinal joints are under less pressure.
Each knee does part of the job; neither is crushed at its end range.
You have a built‑in handle: the front thigh or nearby stool helps you push up to standing without hauling on your back.

It feels odd at first if you’re used to folding all the way down. After a few sessions, many gardeners report they can work longer with less stiffness that night and the next morning.

If kneeling at all is hard

For some people, even a padded half‑kneel is too much - particularly with knee replacements, severe arthritis or balance issues. Physios often recommend a “perch and pivot” set‑up instead:

Use a stable, height‑adjustable stool or gardener’s seat.
Sit with your hips slightly higher than your knees, feet solid on the ground.
Hinge forward from the hips to reach, keeping your back fairly straight.
Pivot the stool along the bed rather than twisting your spine.

It doesn’t look as “earthy” as kneeling, but your joints will thank you.

Tiny changes that protect joints while you weed

Changing your default kneel goes a long way. A few extra tweaks can turn a risky gardening afternoon into a comfortably tired one.

Lift the work closer to you. Use raised beds, tall pots on bricks, or a crate to bring trays and hand tools up towards hip or waist height.
Rotate positions often. Set a quiet timer or use the end of each plant or row as a cue: every 5–10 minutes, stand, straighten, walk a few steps, then reset.
Use longer‑handled tools. A hoe, cultivator or weed puller with an extended handle lets you keep your spine longer instead of diving forwards.
Pad what touches the ground. Good kneeling mats spread pressure, especially for thin skin and bony knees. Some come with side handles to help you back up.
Keep your feet under you. When you do bend, make sure your feet and knees are not miles behind or ahead of your body - that’s when balance goes.

And if you need a rule of thumb: if you can’t get out of the position easily without using your hands, it’s too deep or too twisted for regular use.

Quick swap guide: from spine‑stingy to spine‑friendly

Old habit position	Why it nags after 70	Try this instead
Long kneel, bottom on heels, back curved over the bed	Squashes knee joints and spinal discs; hard to stand up	Supported half‑kneel with one foot forward and forearm on thigh
One‑knee twist, reaching sideways	Twists lower back while one hip is locked down	Turn your whole body to face the work; bring a low stool or crate closer
Deep squat, heels lifted, hugging your knees	Wobbly for balance; loads knees and ankles	Perch on a stable stool or kneeler seat with hips slightly higher than knees
Bending from the waist with straight legs	Stresses hamstrings and lower back in one go	Hip‑hinge with a slight knee bend, or use long‑handled tools instead

None of this is about being “careful” in a fearful way. It’s about spending your physical energy on plants, not on wrestling yourself off the ground.

A garden that grows with you, not against you

There’s a quiet pride in still being out there at 72, hands in the soil, deciding which seedling survives. The trick now is to garden like someone who wants to be doing this at 82 as well.

That means redesigning the choreography, not the passion: a different kneel, a handy stool, a raised bed where the trickiest jobs happen. Most people don’t change everything overnight. They try one small adjustment, notice they can walk a bit easier the next day, and slowly let the old crouch go.

The plants don’t care how close your nose is to the soil. Your back does. And you might be surprised how quickly it says thank you when you offer it a new way to kneel.

FAQ:

Do I have to stop kneeling altogether after 70? Not necessarily. Many over‑70s can still kneel safely if they use padding, avoid deep crouches and change position regularly. The goal is to avoid long, twisted or very bent postures, not to ban kneeling outright.

My knees are replaced - is the half‑kneel safe for me? Often, yes, if you use a thick pad and keep the knee comfortable rather than forcing it fully bent. But because every replacement is different, it’s worth checking with your physiotherapist or surgeon for personalised limits.

How long is “too long” in one gardening position? As a rough guide, anything beyond 5–10 minutes without a brief change or stretch starts to irritate older joints. Short, frequent position changes beat one long, heroic stint.

Are kneeling benches with side handles worth it? For many older gardeners, yes. They combine padding with sturdy rails you can push on to stand, which reduces strain on your back and wrists. Just make sure the frame is stable and rated for your weight.

What if my back already hurts every time I garden? Scale back the time, switch to the supported half‑kneel or a stool, and bring tricky tasks higher up. If pain lingers more than a day or shoots down the leg, a physiotherapist can tailor positions and exercises so you can keep gardening more comfortably.