Kathy Laliberte demonstrates the Gardener Kneeler at Gardener's Supply Co. in Burlington, Vt. Gardener's Supply Co. carries enabling tools for older people and those with physical limitations.

Baby boomers don’t get old. They just develop arthritic knees.

In response, the gardening industry has grown savvier. It’s fast producing lawn and garden tools that boomers can use in their graying years – but that don’t look so, well, elderly.

These are cool tools that are efficient, don’t harm the environment, and play to the self-mythology of an activist, can-do, forever-youthful generation.

Boomers represent a powerful market force, 78 million strong. A yearly survey by the nonprofit National Gardening Association found that people 45 and older are the backbone of the industry – accounting for about 64 percent of gardening retail sales.

Many boomers, though, don’t have much time for working in the yard or tending that backyard patch of tomatoes. And if they’re retired, they often downsize their gardens, or at least not start new ones.

In fact, sales to gardening do-it-yourselfers are down – $34 billion in 2006, a decline from the previous year and below even 2001’s figure of $37.7 billion, according to the NGA. With the economic downturn, gardening isn’t a spending necessity.

The industry is hoping the movement toward greening the planet will at least help at the cash register.

Today’s tools are colorful – easier for aging eyes to see – and ergonomic – delivering results for less muscle. They’re cushion-gripped, streamlined, with a fun factor.

Companies like Fiskars, Radius Garden and OXO are known for such tools. The idea is to make it easier for the backyard gardener to sit, plant, water, weed and reap the fruits of relatively modest labor.

Will Raap, who in 1983 founded Gardener’s Supply, the big Vermont catalog company, based his business on “enabling” tools for people with physical limitations, mainly the disabled and elderly. But he’s seen a resurgence in products like his original Easy Kneeler, which has handles that help people get up and down to garden.

“It’s a pretty good example of a product that got a little slow, then when the boomers got a little tired they were interested,” said Raap, at 58 a boomer himself. His target customers are people who, like him, “get tired a little easier” but still want the exercise and satisfaction of gardening.

Bruce Butterfield, NGA’s market research director, said boomer-friendly tools could boost the industry because gardening “becomes more fun if you’re not walking away with aches and pains.”

Here’s a look at some of the latest tools and trends:

Preparing soil

Plants don’t grow well when the soil is compacted, so you need a way to dig and get more air and organic matter into it. For big landscaping projects, like putting in a lawn or vegetable garden, you may need the big guns – a tiller to turn the soil or a coring machine to poke holes in it.

¢ Tiller: Traditional gas-powered machines pollute and are heavy. Newer electric tillers produce no carbon emissions and weigh less. A flame-colored electric tiller costs $249 at Gardener’s Supply. See www.gardeners.com.

¢ Digging: Long-handled shovels with a bigger flat area for the foot allow you to use more leg muscles as you dig. Some handles, like those on shovels made by Fiskars, are shaped like an oversized “D” to make it easier to grip and reduce hand fatigue. Fiskars’ signature orange-handled tools are available at many retail stores. See www.fiskars.com.

For smaller jobs, a bright red silicone-handled “soil scoop” selling for $24.95 at Gardener’s Supply has one serrated edge and a pointed tip designed to slice through roots and compacted soil and break up clay. Radius Garden makes a lightweight trowel with a chartreuse-colored handle curved to fit the palm and reduce wrist stress. It’s $12-$15 online and at stores. Visit www.lifewithease.com or www.radiusgarden.com.

Planting

Whether you’re planting seeds, bulbs or sod, this task is usually harder than you think it will be. There’s a lot of bending and kneeling. One solution is to get a small, lightweight cart or knee aid.

¢ Carts and stools: Home Depot sells a $34 Garden Rocker that, despite its name, is not a rocking chair but a contoured, adjustable seat; you can buy a $15 non-slip matching cushion with tool pockets. The company also sells a $39 kneeler aimed at reducing back strain. Visit www.homedepot.com.

The $34.95 kneeler at Gardener’s Supply becomes a bench when you flip it. Smith & Hawken sells a $39 foldable kneeler; see www.smithandhawken.com. The Garden Hopper, a rolling stool with an interior storage area, sells for $19.95 at www.activeforever.com.

Wheelbarrows have moved beyond those old heavy metal contraptions. A big polyethylene cart at NGA’s garden shop sells for $199.95 and has a hinged mechanism that lets you tip the cart or tub for easier unloading. Visit http://nga-gardenshop.stores.yahoo.net/index.html.

¢ Bulb planters: OXO, the “Good Grips” tool company, makes a quick-release bulb planter with a handle wide enough for both hands, to make it easier to dig. A lever replaces the soil after the bulb is planted. It sells for $12.99 at www.oxo.com.

Maintenance

¢ Hand tools: Fiskars and OXO make ergonomic pruners, loppers, weeders and more. Several Fiskars pruners and loppers are approved by the Arthritis Foundation’s Ease-of-Use program. Check the company’s Web site.

¢ Lawnmowers: Gasoline-powered motors can be difficult to start after a winter hiatus, and are noisy and polluting. Electric mowers have been around for years, but so has the problem of running over those long extension cords. Neuton, a Vermont company, has a battery-powered mower that sells for less than $400. It’s lightweight, nonpolluting and runs for up to an hour on a single charge. Visit www.drpower.com/CSTM-Neuton-Home.aspx.

¢ Feeding: The trend is away from chemicals that harm the environment. Organic products and composting are big. Smith & Hawken has a $129 Biostack Composter made of recycled polyethylene with bottomless tiers that it says makes turning the compost pile easier.

Self-contained watering systems reduce your labor but can be complicated. Gardener’s Supply has a $79.95 solar power system that waters up to 20 plants at a time. It comes with a 4-inch-square solar panel, 15-foot cord, pump, tubing, drippers, stakes and mounting clamps, and can be used with water-soluble fertilizer.