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Ask any passionate gardener about their favorite pastime, and they’ll often rave about the benefits of being outside in the fresh air, experiencing the joy of watching plants establish and the rich rewards when flowers bloom and vegetables grow.But, catch them on a bad day, and just like me, they’ll moan about their back pain, sore knees and having to deal with barrowloads of soil. Gardening is an excellent hobby to keep you fit, but sometimes it helps to know which tools are available to make it easier.You don’t need to scale back your gardening chores to protect your body from aches and pains; you just need to work wiser and be smart about the tools that can take the strain out of gardening.Here I recommend five yard tools that will make you go ‘aah’ rather than ‘ouch’.1. Kneeling pad
(Image credit: Shutterstock)It’s a pretty simple piece of foam that offers your tired knees support, but I wouldn’t be without my kneeling mat when I’m in the garden. It’s got to a stage that if I don’t use it, I get sharp pains through my joints.Whether you’re working on a lawn, soil, gravel, or stone, when you kneel down to work, your body weight is concentrated on your knee joints, which can result in ‘gardener’s knee’, causing joint pain, stiffness, or fluid retention.To ease the problem, I use Fiskar's Gardening Kneeling Pad, $6 at Amazon, which I carry with me while I work, but if you’re up and down and not in one place for long, you’d be better off wearing knee pads, such as Workpro's Garden Knee Pads, $16 at Amazon. Another option is to opt for a 2-in-1 aid, such as a stool-and-kneeling mat in one.Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.2. Pruning shears
