My sister loves to garden . She loves to drop her summer hours getting down in the grunge – planting , weeding , and watering . She has a large organic veg garden and a orbitual repeated garden with paths , a labyrinth of sorts . She has filled very nook and cranny of her belongings with plants — herbs in one speckle , yield trees elsewhere , and flowers everywhere .
At the present moment back problems specify my sister ’s ability to garden the way she has in the past . But that does n’t mean she has to give up horticulture until her back heals and she regains her potency and flexibleness . Not at all ! In fact , gardening could do her psyche and body a world of good . We just want to make some adjustment so the garden fits her abilities .
Whether you call it an accessible garden , a therapeutic garden , or an enabling garden , all it take is a little planning and ingenuity . Accessibility needs alter , so the first whole tone is to consider what the nurseryman can do and want to do in the garden .
Methods for create garden that everyone can love are trammel only by our imaginations . Here are a few time-tested and truthful ideas to get you started :
Make indisputable garden route are level and tauten and provide sound traction . This will make it easy and safe for everyone in the garden .
If you ca n’t get down to the soil , why not raise the soil up to where you could hand it ? That ’s what raised beds do — they raise the soil level to a easy working top so gardener can work with little or no bow bending , or reaching . magniloquent containers can assist the same purpose . Filling the bed and container with light , well-situated - to - study soil makes digging and draw weeds easier .
Whether you are gardening in a raise seam or at ground degree , long - handled tools make it soft to cultivate and weed . with child diam grip make it easier for people with modified hand specialty to hold up onto putz .
talk of tool , why not tuck a few around the garden so you wo n’t have to go far to find them ? An apron with lots of big pouch is another way to save footfall ; pack the pockets with seeds , pocket-sized peter , and even a piss bottleful . believe carrying a whistle in your apron so you may call for help if you need it .
When it come to watering , place soaker hosepipe or drip irrigation in garden plot and leave them there for the season . That way you do n’t have to conduct around hoses , sprinklers , or watering cans .
develop vining plants and train them up a trellis or pole to make tending and harvesting well-to-do . perpendicular wall garden growing on wooden skeletal system are also easy to incline . Grapes , pea , rod beans , and fresh peas are innate climbers . Tomatoes , cucumbers , and some type of squash need only a little encouragement to climb .
Design gardens for the green goddess . Feeling interesting textures , encounter colorful flowers , and smell out various fragrances impart contribute pleasure .
Want to learn more about building accessible gardens?
The horticulture therapy program at the Chicago Botanic Garden has resources fordesigning approachable gardens .
Accessible Gardens manufacture and sellsraised garden beds .
“ approachable horticulture for Therapeutic Horticulture,”an article publish by the University of Michigan Extension Service , hold an overview of accessible gardening .
Lynne Lamstein gardens in Maine and Florida and is currently work on a sustainable landscape . She has a arcdegree in ornamental gardening from Temple University .
