Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Enabling Gardens
For me, there’s no better stress reliever than to go outside and play in the dirt. (see yesterday’s GB!)
I love watching every moment of life in my yard. From my plants poking up through the cold Spring ground to the last hard frost of the season that takes them into winter slumber.
I take for granted being able to take care of a garden. Then, several years ago, I was asked to give a talk on gardening for the disabled. I did some research and found some very good books to recommend as well as tools for those less able. A book I highly recommend is called “The Enabling Garden” by Gene Rothert.
Gene is still on the Advisory Committee at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. His book is filled with fantastic detailed information about how to create raised beds that accommodate a wheelchair, paths that make sense for those less abled and tools that make life so much easier.
Carry on Gardening out of the UK is a great source for tools and how to choose them. The site has expanded considerably to share ideas on gardening after a stroke, gardening with heart disease, gardening with one hand or blind and other issues. As our population ages, it’s even more apparent how important enabling gardens are!
Take a look at these Top Tips from the site!
One quick method to get anyone started is a tabletop garden in which you buy a bag of soil medium, cut small holes in it and plant right in the bag.
There’s also a section on gardening for your emotional well-being. A company associated with Carry On is called Thrive – using gardening to change lives. What a rewarding endeavor! Feel good factor leaflet