Your post caught my eye as I am also recovering from knee surgery, fractured patella. Cant stoop, lose my balance easily, am slower than I was, but determined to garden.

I am an RN, and this is what I would do were I in your position. First......gauntlet gloves that are as long as you can buy them. Then, protective clothing like something you can get from Cabella's, Eddie Bauer or other high end hunting store. They have overalls, jackets, shirts made for people who hunt in very rugged country, get the clothing that is impenetrable to thorns. Next, I would keep close at hand a first aid kit with items you would need to immediately clean a cut - I swab on 7% iodine when I get a cut - [use this in my horse barn on navels of newborn foals] or a strong Betadine solution [again...I use the strong scrub I keep for horse wounds I get from my vet - its stronger than what you can buy]. Or ask your pharmacist what he would recommend. Keep swabs, gauze pads, bandaids of several sizes in this kit. It will be handy, you can clean any wound immediately.

Next, I would let your DH do some of the initial pruning, and let you do the finer touch up work. That way, the bigger branches would be gone by the time you started. And do all this early in the day to avoid heat.

You have a beautiful garden, but you must take care. I get scratches all the time, never pay them any attention, but you must put yourself first, so you can get back to gardening sooner! And you are only 3 weeks post op? You really have to take care not to lose your balance! I shouldnt talk though, I was sneaking out on crutches the first week to plant some early roses that came so my boyfriend, who was at work, wouldnt catch me at it. Try to look at the long term consequences......[the first few weeks were the hardest for me] and know that you will improve weekly - but you really must take care. What kept me in line was the fear I would hop around too much and end up back in surgery again. Made a believer out of me! Found out today though that I will have to have the pins out at some time or other, more surgery, more down time, but not as bad. Let others do the grunt work, you fine tune, and be careful! Good luck!
Judith

New hip 2005, no problems. I send you wishes of no pain and ease of getting around. I hear the knee is more painful than hip. I'm sure your gardening helps keep your thoughts positive.

Carla

Although it requires bending down from a sitting position frequently, I use an electric Rascal scooter. It allows me to garden as I did before and puts no strain on my knees. I can carry all my tools on the scooter. If buying one is not an option, check out a rental.
Other than your guantlet gloves and a full body suit made of kevlar or goat skin, I can think of nothing that will prevent scratches. You might consider a pair of very long pruners that would prevent having to get in so close to the thorns.
Another tool I find usefull is a pair of 12 inch tweezers. They allow me to pick up things without reaching or bending over so far.

Check with your doctor to see if there are vitamins or medications you can take to improve your immune system.
Something I take(don't know what it is) helps me as I constantly get thorn pricks that bleed making my arms and hands look like I lost a fight with a cat. I just wash the area and continue working.
BTW, I take care of over 400 roses on an acre plus another 200 potted roses in my greenhouse, all from the seat of my scooter.

Good luck in your recovery.
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Here is a link that might be useful: Handicapped gardening

Thanks for the great ideas! I guess I am going to have to break down and buy some kind of pants or chaps. THe idea of a first aid kit with disinfectant is great too.

Karl, I have read about your gardening and am so inspired by it! Especially thought of doing it that way before the knee surgery, but now the knee is coming along so well that I think that is not a problem (Once the 2nd knee is done), I went for the new "Quad sparing,minimally invasive knee replacement" and am so happy with the results. Balance is really good now, and the only rehab left is stretching the muscles back out and teaching them to straighten all the way or bend all the way, plus I still tired quickly, but that improves by the day.

I do have a garden reaching tool that could be very useful for picking up prunings while maintaining my distance and did not think of that until now.

Karl, do you keep your roses low to be able to reach them better, or trim them parallel to your path or anything like that?

JUdith, your knee surgery sounds much worse then mine! Keep up the healing work. Pins I would not want to deal with...staples were bad enough!

My hat is off to all of you, and I'm filing away the ideas for future use. I know my time is coming ...

lizalily
I grow my roses like I did before I was handicapped. I do allow more room between them but that's because I have more room for them. I like to let the roses grow to their full potential. Shrub type roses don't bloom as well if kept artificially lower than they want to be. Keeping them that way removes a lot of cane that would otherwise produce blooms.
My scooter does have a power seat that raises and lowers about 6 inches. This gives me a certain amount of leeway with rose height before it becomes a problem. That, along with my reach plus extended length pruners lets me allow the bushes to grow as they want.
Another type of pruner that helps is a cut and hold pruner.
It grasps the cane when it's cut and keeps it from falling to the ground. Great for cutting blooms to keep them from being damaged .

I am having double knee replacement in April and look forward to gardening better than ever. My knees have been so painful that it has severely limited my actions. My doctor says I should be great in a few weeks. I can't wait!!

I haven't had knee replacement surgery, but my knees ache like crazy. My doc says it's not arthritis or anything that requires surgery - just the way I'm built and my weak quad muscles. So I'm now in physical therapy 2 days a week and do exercises daily to strengthen my quad muscles. My hubby and mom can't beleive that I still get out in my garden with all the pain I'm in. Yes, it hurts, but I love my roses so much that I just endure the pain. Short term pain for long term gain, er' bloom. :o)

I'm gonna bookmark this thread for future reference.

Hope