Gardening for the disabled.

[TheBrit]

Anyone reading my posts would by now realise I am a big advocate of minimum work low maintainance gardens.
Many would not entertain this type of gardening. To them a lot of the enjoyment is the preparation of a "proper" garden,especially vegetable, and the joys of harvesting that first crop from their hard labours.

Low maintainance ornimental gardens are ideal for the disabled or wheelchair bound gardeners who wish to maintain their gardens themselves.

Large slabbed areas are suitable for persons with sticks crutches, or wheelchairs. The raised planters can be constructed to a height where wheelchair users just have to lean across to the bed to carry out any maintainance or planting work. Planters can be built with a width that allows people to easily reach from front to back without undue problems. Many requirements can be incorporated into the initial planning to allow for specific disabilities and make the garden a place of real enjoyment.
For those who enjoy planting and growing their own veg. then again the list of vegetables and herbs that can be grown within planters is enormous.

 

[blueiris]

Good ideas, TheBrit. Vertical gardening along walls or fences is another good option for the disabled.

I'm not technically disabled but I am a big fan of container gardening because of knee problems that I experience when working at ground level. My back porch gets enough sun for plants that like partial sun and I have many potted plants there. My back yard gets full sun and I have been thinking about putting some planters in to make it easier.

 

[happyflowerlady]

We are doing kind of a mix of a small regular garden, and growing plants in containers, where I can deal with them easier. The back deck is close to the house, so easy to go out and snip off some lettuce or onions for my dinner salad, but we are growing the tall plants, like corn, sunflowers, and okra, out in the garden. Our trailer has almost all the windows facing West, so it gets all the afternoon sun blasting in, even with heavy curtains.
To combat this, I am going to grow the tall plants like corn and sunflowers, right outside of the windows, and hope that they will help shelter the trailer in the heat of the day.

 

[TheBrit]

Sounds a good plan happyflower lady. If it's a window you never open, and if you can safely put "fixings" into your trailer side, how about fixing a small ornimental trellis in front of the window, get a size that, from the ground, covers around a foot more each side and top, of the window. You could then grow some ornimental vines up it, which thicken up very quickly to shade out the sun. Then plant your sunflowers and okra in the front of the vines.
Get advice on the vines though, some are very fast growing and can become rampant if not trimmed back regularly.

 

[headfullofbees]

Here in the UK, people with disabled parking badges are permitted to use hosepipes during bans.

 

[happyflowerlady]

Brit, I think that vines and a trellis is an awesome plan ! With having to replant, the sunflowers and corn are not getting tall enough very fast. I think that vines will be perfect, and I can even put some runner beans on the trellis , as well. Then, when fall comes, and it has cooled down, we can just pull the old vines down so we have sun for the cold winter months.
I have a trumpet vine that is growing in a pot, and that will be perfect for in front of one of the windows. Maybe I will get it transplanted tomorrow....

 

[TheBrit]

Glad you like it happyflowerlady. Chopping the vines down to a foot high will encourage them to thicken up, but beware any runners and cut them off before they become established.
Do you mean mix runner beans with the vines? not sure that is a good idea. Think you may find the vines will choke the beans, although I've never tried it.

 

[Jcase]

I worked with a nursing home in Nebraska that was just north of Omaha and they had beautiful raised bed gardens for the nursing home residents. It was actually a development with the Lutheran community and the nursing home shared property with the church daycare and the garden was shared between the two programs. It worked on so many different levels!

 

[limcid]

For those that can't get outside, don't forget about indoor gardening. This is what I'm doing, although I can go outside with no problems. I just want to keep things simple before investing too much time and money. Growing herbs and spices can be quite rewarding.