Activity calories · 2024 Compendium METs

Calories burned gardening

Quick answer

A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns about 133 kcal in 30 minutes of gardening (General, moderate effort), and about 266 kcal in an hour. That is 3.8 METs.

30 minutes: 133kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 266kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 228kcal; 60 kg (132 lb)
1 hour: 304kcal; 80 kg (176 lb)

Gardening ranges from light potting to hard digging, and the Compendium rates each job. Weeding and planting sit in the middle, vigorous yard work and digging near the top. As with housework, enter the time you were working rather than the whole afternoon.

Calculate calories burned gardening

Starts at 70 kg (154 lb) for 30 minutes of gardening at 3.8 METs; enter your own weight and time.

Calories burned gardening by weight and time

Kilocalories for gardening at 3.8 METs (General, moderate effort), by body weight and minutes. Read across from your weight; the pace table below shows the other rows.

Calories burned gardening at 3.8 METs, by body weight and duration
Body weight	15 min	30 min	45 min	1 hour	1.5 hours	2 hours
50 kg (110 lb)	48	95	143	190	285	380
60 kg (132 lb)	57	114	171	228	342	456
70 kg (154 lb)	67	133	200	266	399	532
80 kg (176 lb)	76	152	228	304	456	608
90 kg (198 lb)	86	171	257	342	513	684
100 kg (220 lb)	95	190	285	380	570	760
110 kg (243 lb)	105	209	314	418	627	836

Gardening: calories by pace or effort

The Compendium rates gardening on 9 lines, from 2 METs (General) up to 7.3 METs (Digging, vigorous effort). Each row below is one of those codes with the calories it works out to.

Calories burned gardening by pace or effort
Pace or effort	Compendium code	METs	30 min, 60 kg (132 lb)	30 min, 70 kg (154 lb)	30 min, 80 kg (176 lb)	1 hour, 70 kg (154 lb)
General	08066	2	60	70	80	140
Weeding, light to moderate	08239	3.8	114	133	152	266
General, moderate effort	08245	3.8	114	133	152	266
Raking lawn or leaves	08160	4	120	140	160	280
Yard work, moderate effort	08261	4	120	140	160	280
Planting crops or garden	08145	4.3	129	151	172	301
Weeding, moderate effort	08240	4.5	135	158	180	315
Yard work, vigorous effort	08262	6	180	210	240	420
Digging, vigorous effort	08052	7.3	219	256	292	511

The Compendium’s own wording for each code: 08066, “Gardening, general”; 08239, “Weeding, cultivating garden, light-to-moderate effort”; 08245, “Gardening, general, moderate effort”; 08160, “Raking lawn or leaves, moderate effort”; 08261, “Yardwork, general, moderate effort”; 08145, “Planting crops or garden, stooping, moderate effort”; 08240, “Weeding, cultivating garden, moderate effort”; 08262, “Yardwork, general, vigorous effort”; 08052, “Digging, spading, filling garden, composting, vigorous effort”.

What changes the number for gardening

Pace is the biggest lever. The hardest listed way of gardening (Digging, vigorous effort) is rated at 7.3 METs, 3.6 times the 2 METs of the gentlest (General). For a 70 kg (154 lb) person that is 511 kcal an hour against 140 kcal.

Body weight is the second: the same 3.8 METs of gardening for 30 minutes comes to 95 kcal at 50 kg (110 lb) and 209 kcal at 110 kg (243 lb). To reach 100 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) takes about 23 minutes at the starting pace.

Laid out in half-hour terms for 70 kg (154 lb): general is 70 kcal; weeding, light to moderate is 133 kcal; general, moderate effort is 133 kcal; raking lawn or leaves is 140 kcal; yard work, moderate effort is 140 kcal; planting crops or garden is 151 kcal; weeding, moderate effort is 158 kcal; yard work, vigorous effort is 210 kcal; digging, vigorous effort is 256 kcal.

How the calories are worked out

The formula is calories = MET × body weight in kg × hours. A MET compares an activity with sitting quietly, which is 1 MET and is taken as roughly 1 kcal per kilogram per hour. That equivalence is an approximation, which is why every figure is rounded and called about.

For gardening at 3.8 METs, a 70 kg (154 lb) person for 30 minutes: 3.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 133 kcal. This is a gross figure: it includes the energy your body would spend at rest in the same time.

The MET values are those of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE, et al., J Sport Health Sci 2024), read from its activity list on 2026-10-23 and copied with their codes. They are averages for adults; see how we calculate.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories does a 70 kg person burn gardening in 30 minutes?

About 133 kcal at 3.8 METs (General, moderate effort). The whole range for gardening on this page runs from 70 kcal (General) to 256 kcal (Digging, vigorous effort) in the same half hour.

How many calories does gardening burn in an hour?

At 3.8 METs, about 228 kcal for a 60 kg (132 lb) person, 266 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) and 304 kcal at 80 kg (176 lb). Heavier people burn more because they move more mass.

How long does gardening take to burn 100 calories?

For a 70 kg (154 lb) person, about 23 minutes at 3.8 METs (General, moderate effort). At the gentlest listed pace (General, 2 METs) it takes 43 minutes, and at the hardest (Digging, vigorous effort, 7.3 METs) about 12.

Does the number for gardening include the calories I would burn anyway?

Yes. Of the 3.8 METs, 1 is the resting cost, about 26% of the total here, so the activity itself adds about 98 of the 133 kcal in 30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb).

Why would my watch show a different number for gardening?

A watch uses its own model, often with heart rate, age and sex, while this page uses the Compendium’s average. For gardening that average already spans 9 entries from 2 to 7.3 METs, a 3.6-fold range, so a gap between the two is normal.

Which line in the table should I choose for gardening?

Pick the row that best describes how you did it: this page starts from “General, moderate effort”, about 34% of the way up the 2 to 7.3 MET range. The rows are separate Compendium entries (08066, 08239, 08245, 08160, 08261, 08145, 08240, 08262, 08052).

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These are estimates for healthy adults from average MET values. How much you actually burn varies with your fitness, body composition, technique, terrain and conditions, so use the figures as a guide, not a measurement. This is not medical advice.