Adaptive Gardening For All Abilities I Acres of Green

Professional Lawn Care

& Landscaping in Walpole, MA

Adaptive Gardening For All Abilities

May 21, 2018

Creating an outdoor sanctuary in the Walpole area that is abundant in local Massachusetts greenery with native and heirloom fruits and vegetables, ushers in the spring and summer gardening season. Creating a garden that flourishes and produces an abundant yield takes a good amount of sweat equity, good weather, and conversing with mother nature! Walpole is the perfect place to start a garden because our soil is rich and the humid climate is ideal, but it can take a little creativity to construct the perfect adaptive garden.

At Acres of Green, crafting a garden to fit your tastes and aesthetics is a part of our garden design and garden services, and your outdoor space should be a refuge and not a source of frustration because you can’t freely move about and tend to your plants. We’re here to help give you the garden of your dreams! Follow along as we touch on adaptive gardening that’s inclusive for everyone!

Traditional Gardening

Traditional gardening can take its toll on any body — it requires constant sitting, standing, and bending for planting, weeding, and watering your plant babies. To reduce some of the physical challenges and make accommodations, consider the adaptive gardening practices below.

Raised Garden Beds

A raised garden is one of the best things to implement if you’re in a wheelchair or can’t sit for long periods of time. Taking the garden from a plot to a bed allows you to fully customize the height from the ground up, so the bed works with your wheelchair. You also have the option of spacing them appropriately and to your specifications, so you are able to turn completely around and go to the next bed without having to make huge adjustments. Building a small ledge off one of the sides is also helpful to have, this way you can place plants or tools on it so everything doesn’t have to sit in your lap.

Adaptive Garden Tools

In the last couple of years or so, adaptive gardening tools have gotten a bit of a facelift and more customizable with a better ergonomic design, support, and functionality for those who cannot easily dig, rake, water, or prune. These tools are made from lighter materials that reduce the hand-fatigue and are great for those with fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis.

There are also extendable garden tools that reach anywhere from 18 to 30 inches giving anyone in a wheelchair the ability to rake, water, and cultivate their garden. If you’re not finding what you need or you’re on a tight budget, there is always the DIY route. Shop your local home improvement store and stock up on foam padding and PVC pipes to make tools more comfortable and extendable.

For easy transport of tools, you can keep them in a weather-proof area outside or in the garage, and you can wear them around your neck (the non-pointed ones!) for easy portability.

Soaker hoses may be something to invest in, as a garden requires a good amount of watering which takes a lot of time and energy. Not only do the soaker hoses save you time, but they saturate the ground using less water, saving you on your water bills!

Weeding can also become quite tedious as those little pests suck water and energy away from what you really want to grow. To reduce the time and energy you have to spend weeding without using pesticides and herbicides, try putting out a layer of newspaper and covering it with mulch, or use a weed mat as a barrier.

Gardening is amazing for the food it produces and the stress relief it provides, so make your garden space work for you! Have your local landscaping company install individualized raised beds and consider adaptive tools to assist you.

AT ACRES OF GREEN, WE’RE HERE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THE GARDENING SERVICES YOU NEED. WHETHER IT’S GARDEN DESIGN OR STOPPING BY WEEKLY TO HELP YOU WEED, WE’LL HELP YOUR GARDEN THRIVE! CALL US TODAY AND ASK US ABOUT OUR ADAPTIVE GARDENING SERVICES.