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10% discount for Mobility in the garden landscape gardening work
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Mobility in the garden landscaping services and DIY tips
On this page adapting gardens for wheelchairs, easy access and mobility
Diy and adapted tools tools for the disabled
Contact Mike
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i/e gardening with disabilities, adapted tools, leveling, mobility, design for alzhiemers, raised beds, gardeners with a bad back, sensory plants etc.
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Mobility landscape gardening services and tips for elderly and disabled gardeners and people with arthritis.
I design and construct gardens with a user friendly layout and easy access for elderly people, wheelchair gardeners, disabled gardeners, people with arthritis and folk with a disability that makes bending over, mobility and gardening difficult. This can include complete redesign and landscaping, adapting pathways, leveling slopes, adjusting steep steps and practical maintenance schemes.
No job that improves mobility is to small, just ask.
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Gardening and mobility tips for disabled and elderly people working with a disability or from a wheelchair. These design tips may help if you are elderly, disabled or gardening from a wheelchair. The layout can make a real difference if you want to carry on gardening with a disability that makes it difficult or painful..
If you can't bend easily, raised beds and container growing makes digging and weeding easier.
Having plenty of seats in shady areas where you can sit and ponder and get your breath back whilst digging and weeding.
Large lawns with lots of curves take a lot of maintenance. Not for me, but artificial grass needs almost zero caring for. Dividing up the area into workable flower or vegetable beds is a better solution, as is paving, or even letting it go wild and laying paved paths through it if you use a wheel chair, a walking stick or walking aid.
Walking through a wild lawn is one of life's treats. Much more interesting than those chemically green lawns you can see over the fence! The grand children love exploring and rolling around in it as well. More on the wildflower lawn page
Borders are much easier to maintain if you can reach across them easily. So build your flower borders to be a maximum two foot wide and maybe have flagstones laid in the flower border to kneel down on.
Hydroponics, If you are unable to get outside or don't have a garden you can still grow a wide selection of plants indoors using hydroponic equipment. Plants such as tomatoes and many herbs among other plants can be successfully grown with the use of grow lighting and grow tents to control the plants lighting requirements and humidity. Rotherham hydroponics grow tents and grow lights will assist you with this method of cultivation. They even offer a selection of grow tent kits to supply you with everything you need to get going.
Containers and raised beds look attractive and are ideal if you can't bend. Raising a garden bed just a few inches makes planting, digging and weeding so much easier if you are disabled or using a wheelchair.
Almost anything can be used to make a raised bed as long as it raises the working surface to a level that will make gardening easier. More information on my raised garden beds page.
Ponds are a peaceful feature but can be high maintenance unless you go for a wildlife pond, planted up with slow growing native British pond plants. If you have a pond avoid pond plants that grow fast or gulpy ornamental fish such as Koi and maintenance will be minimal. If you are use a wheelchair or not too confident on your feet, erect a sturdy rustic fence and handrail around your pond. There's a bit more information about looking after ponds and choosing pond plants on my pond page.
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This page - Mobility landscape gardening services and tips for Gardeners with a disability or working from a wheelchair. Digging and weeding. Sowing seeds and watering. Garden layout for elderly and wheelchair gardeners.
If you are disabled and have a sloping garden, it's likely the slope is making maintenance or mowing your lawn difficult, especially when the surface is wet. So think about leveling, terracing or maybe installing level pathways through the slopes. Visit the sloping garden page for more information on building retaining walls.
Technical stuff to consider when laying paths and landscaping if you have a disability: how wide does a pathway need to be for a wheelchair gardener? What materials are best for hard surfaces for wheelchairs? What height is best for handrails for people with limited mobility? This information can be found on my disabled garden layout page.
Planting
Choosing plants that are low maintenance will make life easier but will restrict choice and maybe all year round colour. With this in mind it's probably best to buy plants that are slow growing, most trees grow slowly.
Ground cover shrubs will help keep weeds down and add interest. Low growing fruit trees give colour and the benefit of the Autumn harvest. If you are not sure what trees, shrubs and plants to use it might be a good idea to fork out for a planting plan and stick to it.
Hedges are often fast growing and need a lot of pruning. You might be better of with panel fencing. Single panels that get damaged are easier to replace if you use slotted posts. Also think about growing vine type vegetables like Runner beans or fragrant vines like clematis, climbing rose, honeysuckle, and jasmine to cover the fence.
Digging and weeding.
Digging helps break up the soil, aerates it, and helps to loosen weeds. Regular hoeing, light forking and adding well rotted compost from your compost heap or worm bin make the old fashioned back breaking annual dig almost redundant (gardening without digging).
If because of a disability or age, gardening is becoming a problem, keep it simple. Light and often is better for your general well being and your garden. So if your garden is easily accessable. instead of sitting in front of the television on a dry day you would be out in your garden keeping yourself and your garden healthy.
Raised beds make digging easier. When digging beds, use a lightweight long handled trowel or fork to turn over the soil, long handles make it a lot easier. Adapted tools are available from this website or from your local ironmonger. Large Garden centers charge a lot more for them.
Digging and weeding is easier if you keep your beds narrow or accessible from both sides. If you have retaining walls, cultivate the area that runs along behind the wall. Use specially designed gardening tools, lay down a weed suppressing membrane and plant through slits cut in the material. And if your soil is clay keep adding grit sand.
Weeds. Getting rid of annual and perennial weeds keeps your garden beds tidy and your plants healthy. Weeds take up the moisture and nutrients your plants need to thrive. Once again, little and often is best and more enjoyable. An overgrown weedy garden is a daunting sight and you may prefer to stay in front of the television. So once again, little and often, especially if you have a bad back or disability that stops you bending easily.
Watering, During long dry spells watering is time consuming and can be made easier if you have a disability or bad back that makes bending difficult. A light plastic, flat sided watering can is easier to use than a round one and placing water butts and stand pipes at convenient places around the garden make the job easier.
Grouping your containers together and placing saucers under them, as well as mulching the soil and watering in the evening, when there is less evaporation all saves water and time. If you haven't got stand pipes in convenient places, leave the hose pipe rolled out ready during long hot spells.
Sowing seeds. Save money and grow plants from seed. You will also have spare plants to share or sell at your local car boot. I get a lot of satisfaction growing from seed, sometimes it dosen't work out but even at my age it's still one big learning curve. You can grow seeds direct into the garden or in the greenhouse.
It's also easier on your body if you can sow direct into your garden beds where the plants will grow, especially if your beds are designed as narrow reachable borders or raised beds as we have talked about in this article. Mixing fine seed with sand makes it easier to sow if your hands are a bit stiff.
When and what to sow tips can be found on other pages of my website.
Greenhouse gardeners
If you suffer from a disability that makes bending difficult the same tips we have talked about in this article can be applied for greenhouse gardeners. Most of the basic stuff to get you going is included on my greenhouse gardeners page. If you haven't got a greenhouse and have someone to help dismantle and collect a secondhand greenhouse, have a look at the used greenhouses listed for free or a small fee on my secondhand greenhouses page. You can post a request for a used greenhouse in your area for free.
Adapted Equipment and tools and basic changes to garden layout can all make gardening easier
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| wheeled gardening seat |
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| This rolling gardeners seat can help avoid painful bending or stooping when gardening, The swivel tractor-type seat lets you sit and work up to 23" above the ground and roll around on four wheels.
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| Portable modular ramps help getting in and out of the garden |
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| We would just like to say how pleased we were with the work you did, in providing a wheelchair accessible back garden. The advice given was just right, and the work done in a friendly and efficient manner. Many thanks.
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Lots more mobility, gardening aids and useful gifts for elderly and disabled gardeners here
gifts for the elderly
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Raised garden beds make the garden more accessible for planting and harvesting. Also, using trellis to grow plants and vegetables up helps to avoid bending and stooping.
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Retractable hanging baskets, wheelbarrows and fixing castors on plant containers to make them easily reposistioned.
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Use lightweight tools that are easier to handle. And gardening tools that have been specialy adapted for elderly or disabled folk like the ones I have selected here. Or you can adapt your own gardening tools to make them more comfortable to use with foam, tape and plastic tubing etc.
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Have plenty of easily accesible shade areas for working in during hot weather in the Summer and make sure to shelter to escape the rain in Winter.
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Have stable chairs spread around your garden and easily accesible tables to take frequent breaks and have a drink. Drink plenty of water or juice, especially on hot days.
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Ensure that there are taps near to container planted plants and seed beds or maybe install a drip feeder system for easy watering.
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It's a good idea to have quick and easy access to a toilet
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If you found this page useful, please share with others who might find it helpful too.
1 Copy and paste this url http://www.flowerpotman.com/disabledgardening.html
2 Add a note of your own,
3 Paste it into your blog, Web page, forums, a blog comment or your Facebook account, anywhere that someone with a soggy garden would find it. Thanks if you do.
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More tips from the gardener that might help people with a disability, elderly and wheelchair gardeners
Most of the garden tips we have talked about, together with the use of some specially adapted tools will help if you are gardening from a wheelchair. The most important factor will be access to your garden and to be able to garden and get around the garden with ease.
Gaining Access to, and getting around Your Garden Smooth paving with turning places, raised edgings especially on corners (brakes if yours fail), handrails and gentle gradual slopes in place of steps are essential for wheelchair gardening. Pathway lighting and spotlights around the raised beds and borders will help to keep on gardening as the nights draw in. Well thought out Lighting can also add interest to a garden and if you are going down the wildlife friendly route, good lighting makes spotting the wildlife visitors to your garden easier at night.
Garden design for wheelchair gardeners. Good well thought out garden design for wheelchair access, will make gardening easier if you're using a wheelchair or have a disability that stops you bending and I have covered layout on the disabled garden layout page . Raised beds, reachable borders, hanging baskets and accessible arbors and trellises all make gardening easier without having to bend down to reach your plants. Some hanging baskets even come with their own pulley system so they can be raised and lowered from your wheelchair.
Garden Tools for elderly and disabled gardeners using a wheelchair There is a whole range of specially adapted gardening tools available on the net which are custom made for the elderly and gardeners with a disability that makes bending and stretching difficult,. Some come with attachable extension poles and others have specially modified grab and hold mechanisms. You can even get gardening gloves that have sticky palms. I have included long reach and easy to grip tools on the tools for disabled folk page.
Remember a garden designed and built or adapted with wheelchair access and mobility in mind, can look good and a be a blessing. My visit to work out a price for mobility landscaping that improves access and mobility is free.
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Caring for your back in the garden and gardening with a bad back.
It's important to warm up before gardening. If it's cold wrap up warm.
Also, avoid repetitive garden work by changing your position every now and then and taking regular breaks to avoid straining your back in your garden.
Garden layout is important for enjoyable gardening if you have a disability or bad back that makes bending difficult, This includes access, hard surfaces, raised beds, handrails and I have included measurements, materials and tips on the layout page.
Avoid bare patches that encourage weeds to grow in your garden and use chipped bark or well rotted manure and compost to mulch the surface.This will greatly reduce the weeding needed in your garden.
Raising flower and vegetable beds will reduce the need to bend down. Keeping flower and vegetable beds narrow will mean less stretching when you are weeding, planting and harvesting your fruit and vegetables.
Using adapted tools with long handles, such as forks and trowels and tools with extensions means less stretching. Pruning tools that have a ratchet system make cutting easier and saves putting pressure on the back. They are especially helpful in the garden if you have a weak grip or disability that makes squeezing painful.
Another neat tip - keep all cutting tools sharp, as this helps too.
Keeping smaller gardening tools in a holster attached to your belt saves bending down to pick them up. Only half fill heavy watering cans. You can also leave a watering hose stretched out to areas of your garden that need a lot of watering. But make sure it's tucked into the edge of pathways so you don't trip over it. And remember, a good soaking is better than a sprinkle over the surface and saves time watering every day.
You don't need to dig the garden over every year. Once the garden has been dug over to remove weeds just add a good helping of manure or garden compost in the Autumn and sprinkle some more over the garden through out the year as it becomes ready from your compost heap, or consider gardening without digging.
More about gardening with a painful back here gardening with a bad back
landscape gardeners for disabled and wheelchair access landscape gardener and gardening services for the elderly, wheelchair users and gardeners with a disability North Somerset, Somerset, Bristol, Weston super mare, Yeovil, Taunton, Wells, Burnham on sea, Portishead, Clevedon, Nailsea, Yatton, Wells, Yeovil, Cheddar and Bridgwater area
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Some of my tips are stuff I have picked up from people I have worked for. Hope you have found them helpful.
If you have any comments or tips of your own that will help people enjoy and carry on gardening, no matter how simple (its the simple stuff that often helps most) please share them with other disabled, elderly and wheelchair gardeners.
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flowerpotman landscape gardeners and easy access garden designers and builders offers design and construction services gardening with a disabilityr in the following areas
Somerset,Devon,Wiltshire,Berkshire,Dorset, Ashcott , Axbridge | Backwell ,Bath, Brent Knoll ,Bridgwater | Bruton , Burnham-on-Sea ,| Castle Cary | Chard | Cheddar | Churchill | Clevedon, Congresbury , Crewkerne, Dunster | Farrington Gurney | Faulkland | Frome | Glastonbury | Highbridge, Ilchester | Ilminster | Keynsham | Langport | Long Ashton | Lympsham | Martock |,Midsomer Norton | Minehead |Porlock | Radstock | Shepton Mallet | Somerton | Street | Taunton | Wedmore | Wellington, Wells | West Camel | Wincanton | Winscombe | Winsford | Wookey | Woolverton | Worle, Yeovil | Berkeley, Bristol | Chipping Sodbury | Clevedon | Clifton | Flax Bourton | Henbury | Keynsham | Lawrence Weston | Long Ashton | Nailsea | Old Sodbury | Paulton | Portishead | Saltford | Severn Beach | Shirehampton | Stoke Gifford |Thornbury | Westbury Park | Westbury-on-Trym | Weston-super-Mare .Westonzoyland| Winterbourne | Wotton-under-Edge |Wrington | Yate | Yatton .Chippenham |Corsham,|Devizes |Limpley Stoke | Malmesbury | Marlborough | Melksham | Salisbury | Swindon |Trowbridge | Upavon | Warminster |Westbury | Wootton Bassett, | Basingstoke, Bracknell | Hungerford | Newbury |Reading | Bridport |Christchurch | Dorchester | Lyme Regis | Poole |Shaftesbury | Sherborne | Weymouth |Exeter | Tiverton .Almondsbury |Cheltenham | Cirencester | Dursley | Gloucester | Moreton-in-Marsh | Nailsworth | Painswick | Stow-on-the-Wold | Stroud | Tetbury | Tewkesbury.North Somerset.
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