It is important for everyone, of any age, to be active. The elderly are, of course, no exception, but how can you expect someone who has lost some motor-control or has trouble maintaining balance for long periods of time to be overly active? Gardening may be the answer.

Keeping a garden can give your elderly relatives something to look forward to and something to take pride in. If you plant flowers you can make beautiful landscapes from a pile of earth and manure, if you plant food you will have some great-tasting fresh produce in a few months time, and if you plant both you can get spectacular beauty along with your meal.

Gardening allows you to focus on something that is both productive and entertaining, while at the same time not being dangerous to the more fragile of the elderly and being a simple way to get a bit of exercise. Studies also show that activities such as gardening and planting can help prevent diseases like osteoporosis, improves muscle tone, endurance, and strength.

There are a great many reasons for the elderly to garden, and a great many ways in which it can help them to maintain the life they’ve built for themselves, but perhaps the best is this: gardening is an activity that people enjoy at all ages, and getting on in years is no reason to give it up.