My best friend has fibromyalgia. She is always in pain. She also has problems with her feet that require regular visits to a podiatrist. She loves to have a garden. There are many ways to adapt gardening to her disabilities. Perhaps some of the things she does will help others have the garden of their dreams.
Our garden has two tiers. The upper tier is about twelve to fifteen inches higher than the lower tier. We installed two steps in the middle of the garden. Also, near the gate on the driveway side the two tiers are fairly even allowing easy access to either top or bottom tier. We also installed a wall and permanent raised bed on the edge of the upper level. This not only gave us a place for lettuces, spinach, and other greens, it also provide a place for sitting down to rest without having to leave the garden.
Some days when my good friend has a lot to do in the garden, she drives the minivan down and parks it beside the gate. She does this mostly during planting and harvesting. Driving down allows her to work longer without having to worry about walking back up the hill when she’s done. There have been days that she has requested that I drive back up the hill because she’s too tired to lift her feet to the pedals. On those days, I help her into her home and stay with her for a while. That does not happen very often.
Years ago, we had a Merry Tiller with front tines. My friends owned that tiller long before I ever moved here. We used it for many years after I arrived. About eight years ago, my friend stopped using the tiller even though she enjoyed using it before that. It became too heavy for her to turn around. About that same time we bought a Mantis tiller. It’s much smaller and lighter weight. Once started, it walks down to the garden. This made it possible for her to run the tiller for a few more years. Not long ago, she stopped trying to run the tiller. I don’t know if that will change once she has this next podiatry appointment or not.
Another thing that we did was start a container garden on her front deck which has a southern exposure. This allowed me to plant lettuces and spinach with easy access. I also planted flowers for both her front porch and her back door ramp. She loves flowers, but she almost never grows them for herself. She enjoys seeing the flowers when she’s sitting in her living room.
These are some of the flowers that I planted for my friend to enjoy.
We’ve changed her gardening tools, as well. For many years, all the rakes, shovels, and hoes had wooden handles. These were fine until her hands really started hurting. We bought her a set of tools with metal or fiberglass handles. Now, her hands don’t hurt from the handles themselves.
In the garden, we make raised beds. It takes about twenty minutes to move the soil around to make an area that is about six inches taller than the surrounding area. This not only marks where seeds are planted, but also makes weeding easier since she’s not bending over as far.
There are many ways to adapt gardening so that a person with disabilities can participate and enjoy the garden. I’m sure I’ve not covered all the possible ways to adapt. I’ve only shared the ways that my friend has used. The main thing to remember is that having a disability does not have to keep a person from gardening.
The greenhouse is on the same level as the houses which provides easy access to gardening even when my friend is hurting. There’s also a wall inside that is part of the raised bed for her to sit on.
ladydamorea 