It's no secret that working in the garden is an all-around health booster: along with the emotional rewards gardeners glean from carving out a bit of personal space in the sunshine, all of those hours spend weeding, raking, digging, and lifting serve to increase stamina, build muscle tone, and burn calories. Yet all too often gardeners complain of aches and pains because their bodies are thrown off balance, and sometimes even seriously injured, by all of the bending, lifting, and kneeling that gardening involves. Fortunately, help is at hand as garden designer Bunny Guinness joins forces with physiotherapist Jacqueline Knox in this one-stop guide to all-around garden health. Step-by-step sequences based on the Pilates method illustrate the safe way to push wheelbarrows, lift heavy pots, pick low-lying fruit, and much more in a way that boosts fitness benefits while avoiding stresses and strains. Because a health-promoting garden should be thoroughly in tune with the gardener's lifestyle, the authors also detail a wealth of tactics for achieving beautiful gardens that require a range of exertion levels.
They describe planting designs that are best for time-pressed gardeners, how to use daily garden maintenance regimes to stay active, and how to design a custom 'outdoor gym'. Illustrated sequences guide gardeners through physical exercises to suit their fitness levels, using trees, balance beams, benches, and other props. Looking after oneself is also key to good garden health. To this end, a comprehensive guide to growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs, a rundown of the best gardening clothes and ergonomic tools, tips for preventing and treating common ailments, and guidelines for winding down the healthy way complete this indispensable resource.
Author Biography
Bunny Guinness is a leading garden designer who has run her own landscape design practice since 1987. A prominent figure in the British gardening media, she is a regular panelist on BBC Radio 4's 'Gardeners' Question Time' and has appeared on many television shows such as 'Guinness in the Garden', 'Small Town Gardens', 'Carol Vordermann's Better Gardens', and 'The Great Garden Challenge'. She has also hosted London's Chelsea Flower Show for the BBC. In addition to writing a weekly column for the Sunday Telegraph, she has contributed articles to The Garden, House and Garden, The English Garden, Country Life, and many others. Bunny is the author of several books including the bestselling Family Gardens. The recipient of six gold medals for her Chelsea Flower Show gardens, she takes on private garden design commissions all over the world. Jacqueline Knox is a physiotherapist who often lectures on spinal problems. Since 2000 she has served as physiotherapist to the British rowing team, who won a gold medal at the Athens Olympics. A proponent of the physiotherapeutic benefits of the Pilates method, she co-wrote the Official Body Control Pilates Manual and was medical consultant on the book Pilates Pregnancy Guide. Jacqueline qualified at the Leeds School of Physiotherapy and went on to further training in Perth, Australia, where she completed a postgraduate diploma in Manipulative Therapy. She then worked at various hospitals in Australia and the United Kingdom before setting up her own clinic in Tallington, England.
