Gardening in wheelchair

Anniebach

Thank you all. So much advice and kindness.

I have always loved gardening, when I became housebound I
made an indoor garden with house plants, but to plant bulbs,
annuals, shrubs again will be wonderful . Gardening is healing .

Oh it is indeed, and I am so happe for you. If I lived nearby, I would be happe to be your assistant every so often. I have a great friend in the UK who is a fabulous gardener, and has to walk with a Zimmerframe now after several breaks due to osteoporosis. Her Council House garden would feature in any posh Gardening magazine. Everytime I visit, I will spend the day pruning, weeding and doing the jobs she can't do anymore, and she has a few other 'assistants'.

One benefit of the initial lockdown was having a builder husband stuck at home, with no excuse not to get on with the planters and pavers. I'd been planning the working part of our garden for years, way before my mobility became an issue. The sleepers weren't cheap, but if you have friends or family who would offer free labour for a few hours in exchange for dinner, it's affordable. You could do a planter every month, and spread the cost.

The pavers were free from a lady on Freecycle, so there's ways and means to adapt your garden to suit without breaking the bank.

When I worked for a person in a wheelchair his garden was paved with lines of raised beds.
As a temporary measure you could put the pots on a table or bench.

Thank you all. So much advice and kindness.

I have always loved gardening, when I became housebound I
made an indoor garden with house plants, but to plant bulbs,
annuals, shrubs again will be wonderful . Gardening is healing .

Dearest Annie
Just seen your post - am so pleased to hear your news, it will mean such a lot to you.
There is a young man in the morning on Morning Live, with Gethin, who is in a wheel chair, and does lots of stuff in planters and pots, might be worth watching out for him. Mark Lane - I see someone has put his name further up.
I think he has written books as well.
Good luck Annie x

Annie,have a wonderful gardening year ahead of you.
Sending virtual flowers and hugs.

Pavements* even!!

Callistemon21

walkways sorry, that sounds insensitive!

I mean wide paths so that she can negotiate her wheelchair around the raised beds.

I didnt think this was insensitive. After all, Americans call the placements "sidewalks"!! I thought your post was helpful.

I worked in a care home for the disabled where all our residents are in wheelchairs. They all love the spring and summer where we take them outside and do gardening with them. We do lots of bulb planting and we have raised flowers beds at a height were they can easily sit and work at. They love it.

I'm so pleased to here you can finally get out Annie. If you are on facebook, there are bound to be people on your local selling pages who make made to measure pallet containers at the right height. They seem to be remarkably good value

There is a wonderful organisation called Thrive which has all sorts of advice on gardening for the disabled, special tools and how to do things etc. Go to carryongardening.org.uk. Or just google Thrive.

Good luck with it all.

I really like my hoe, it's very light and I have had it for years but DH used it to scrape weeds out from between paving slabs and it's just not the same any more.

Although I can walk, I need to sit down frequently so perch on a garden stool which weeding my slightly raised beds. I recently bought a long handled trowel and rake, hand tools with a longer handle, which are brilliant for reaching to the back of the beds.

My problem is I get carried away, moving the stool around, pulling out weeds and pruning in my jungle, then run out of energy to move the rubbish to the bins! That final job can be very painful on my poor knees.

Thank you Serendipity x

Awwww FANTASTIC Annie absolutely well well done.

I have nothing to offer in the way of positive advice on gardening because i loathe it ( sorry ) but i wanted to say WELL DONE TO YOU

Thank you shysal. Yes hope for a fine summer

That looks good, shysal

Make sure pots, planters etc are tall enough Anniebach - we do have a part terraced garden but I still have to bend and it's not good for my back!

There are many forms of trug planter for sale theses days, under which your knees in a wheelchair will fit. Enjoy! Hope for a fine summer.

Didn’t expect such response thank you

Auntyflo yes after four years i can go outdoors x

merlotgran Coastpath I stopped watching Gardeners World when I had to stop going outside, I will look up Mark Lane, and the charity.

glammanana we have a B & M here, i will look on their website, I looked on Amazon, the prices !

Callistemon i am having a hose pipe sorted , not sure how! but I will. Loved ‘walkways’ .

I am so like a child at Christmas, to get outdoors again and to
plant and prune etc . Getting so carried away have even planned to enter the councils ‘best front garden competition’
it’s for the disabled and elderly.

Raised beds are the way forwards, and of course access with wheel-chair friendly surfaces.

No gardening for me for a while yet, still all covered with thick snow.

And here

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEtaomyNQLw

Some good tips here. How exciting for you!

www.carryongardening.org.uk/

walkways sorry, that sounds insensitive!

I mean wide paths so that she can negotiate her wheelchair around the raised beds.

Ooops sorry Merlotgran two minds with one thought.

Mark is great isn't he.

Someone I know is in a wheelchair and had their garden redesigned with walkways and raised beds. It wasn't cheap though.

Tall pots or boxes would be a good idea. Do you have an outside tap so you could water with a hosepipe?

????