When gardening at a brisk pace, the average person will burn 33 calories every 10 minutes of gardening. For most people, this can count as some good exercise.

Gardening is not only an enjoyable hobby, but time spent outdoors is always a wonderful benefit for you physically and mentally. But did you know that gardening can be counted as exercise as well?

Surprisingly, even though it won’t leave you as winded as a jog, gardening is a viable form of exercise that has the added benefit of beautifying your home. Though this revelation is good news, you might ask, can you calculate calories burned gardening accurately? 

How Many Calories Do You Burn Gardening?

Gardening usually burns 33 calories per every 10 minutes of work, but different types of gardening can burn even more calories. The most strenuous gardening tasks, like hauling with a wheelbarrow or raking and bagging leaves, can burn almost 500 calories an hour!

When we think of gardening, it’s usually planting, weeding, and watering that comes to mind, but the bigger the yard, the more chores will crop up. Don’t sell yourself short on the amount of calories you’ve burned. It may be more than you think!

Here are a few gardening tasks and the number of calories they burn per hour:

  • Planting and potting- 143 calories/ hour
  • Clearing light brush- 251 calories/ hour
  • Cultivating with hoe- 358 calories/ hour
  • Hauling branches- 451 calories/ hour

Does Gardening Count As Exercise?

According to the Center for Disease Control, gardening is counted as moderate exercise and is viewed to be extremely beneficial mentally and physically.

Luckily for those of us that love to count every bit of exercise we can, gardening burns a surprising amount of calories, making it one of the more enjoyable and satisfying ways to get your daily exercise in. 

To get the most out of your gardening exercise regiment, do things manually instead of using powered tools. For example, trim your hedges with a manual hedge trimmer and skip the electric one. It won’t take that much longer, and it will be a much more productive workout.

What Burns More Calories? Gardening vs Walking.

Walking will burn more calories than casual gardening, clocking in between 210 to 360 per hour, but more intensive forms of gardening like hauling and cultivating can burn more calories than walking. 

As with all forms of exercise, intensity and duration are what will determine how many calories you will burn. If you garden every day and give it your all each time, then it will be a more fruitful workout for you compared to a slow-paced walk.

Can I Lose Weight By Gardening Every Day?

As with any exercise, gardening will need to be combined with a proper diet to assist in weight loss. Use gardening to help reach your calorie deficit every day, and it will help you burn off weight.

Gardening alone will not make you drop pounds if you’re still taking in more calories than your body is burning day-to-day. 

Try a fitness app to calculate the calories burned gardening and the calories you should consume in a day. An even better option is to talk to your doctor about how to incorporate gardening into your weight-loss plan in the long term. 

In Summary

  • Calories burned gardening is, on average, 33 calories per 10 minutes.
  • Gardening can count as exercise, especially high-intensity gardening chores.
  • Casual walking and gardening burn similar amounts of calories, but more difficult gardening tasks will burn many more calories than walking. 
  • Gardening can be incorporated into a weight loss plan in conjunction with a healthy diet, but gardening on its own won’t cause you to lose weight.