Calories burned gardening calculator
From weeding to mowing, see what time in the garden burns for your body.
Updated
Your result
For an hour of gardening (gardening, moderate effort) at 65 kg:
190extra kcal
On top of the 55 kcal you’d burn anyway in that time. In total it uses about 240 kcal.
It’s already part of your everyday level on the TDEE calculator, so don’t add it as exercise.
Calories burned gardening: the key numbers
- An hour of gardening adds about 65 to 300 extra kcal for a 65 kg person, depending on the job.
- An hour of gardening (gardening, moderate effort) adds about 190 extra kcal at 65 kg and 290 at 100 kg.
- The figures come from 6 rows of the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, from 2 to 5.5 METs: each from published studies.
- It’s part of the everyday level on the TDEE calculator, so it isn’t added as exercise.
Already in your TDEE
This is the kind of movement the everyday level on the TDEE calculator covers. If you do a lot of it, choose a higher everyday level rather than adding it as exercise.
For your body and time
| Activity | Extra kcal | Compendium value |
|---|---|---|
| Light gardening | 65 | 2 METs, Compendium code 08066 |
| Gardening, moderate effort | 190 | 3.8 METs, Compendium code 08245 |
| Raking leaves | 200 | 4 METs, Compendium code 08160 |
| Weeding | 230 | 4.5 METs, Compendium code 08240 |
| Digging | 270 | 5 METs, Compendium code 08050 |
| Mowing, walking behind the mower | 300 | 5.5 METs, Compendium code 08095 |
| Walking: Brisk (3.7 mph, 6 km/h) | 250 | 4.8 METs, Compendium code 17200 |
Each figure uses the activity’s cost from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, which gives it in METs of oxygen use per kg of body weight, so the extra scales with your weight. Only the part above resting counts as extra. What you’d burn anyway comes from your own resting rate (Mifflin-St Jeor), not the standard 1 MET: in 769 adults, measured resting burn averaged 0.84 kcal per kg an hour against the standard 1 (Byrne, 2005).
Compare every activity on the calories burned calculator.
More activities: walking, running, lifting weights, swimming, cycling, elliptical, treadmill, hiking, sleeping, standing, yoga, Pilates, climbing stairs, dancing, rowing, golf, cleaning.
Short answers
How many calories does gardening burn?
It depends on the job, and on your weight. For a 65 kg woman, an hour adds about 65 kcal (light gardening) up to about 300 (mowing, walking behind the mower) on top of what she’d burn anyway. For a 100 kg man it’s about 100 to 460.
Does mowing the lawn burn many calories?
Walking behind a mower for an hour adds about 300 kcal for a 65 kg woman, more than an hour of brisk walking (about 250).
Should I add gardening to my TDEE?
Not as exercise. Gardening is the kind of movement the everyday level on the TDEE calculator covers. If you do a lot of it, choose a higher everyday level instead.
Sources
Checked against each source on 22 and 23 October 2026
- Herrmann SD, et al. (2024). 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: a third update of the energy costs of human activities. J Sport Health Sci 13(1):6–12. PMID 38242596
- Byrne NM, et al. (2005). Metabolic equivalent: one size does not fit all. J Appl Physiol 99(3):1112–9. PMID 15831804
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, et al. (1990). A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr 51(2):241–7. PMID 2305711