Accessible Gardening: What it is and how you too can adapt

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Some of the earliest and best memories I have are from helping my mother tend her herb garden and grape vine. Our modest townhouse opened up in the backyard to a very small plot of land that consisted of hard Virginia clay. And she spent a lot of time developing rich healthy soil. And I remember my hands in the dirt, helping start new plants, tending and cultivating budding plant life. The sensory experience in the backyard alone was goals. It all has a beautiful rosey haze. Because then, when I was 6 years old, my mother had a tragic accident that changed everything. She was told she’d never walk again let alone tend her garden. I saw the light disappear for a while. But through therapy and lots of it and adaptive techniques, she has been able to garden again. Her physical disabilities are something she can’t change, but instead adapt to. This is what truly inspired me to focus my garden coaching business on raised bed accessible gardens. 

Why did I choose raised beds? For a variety of reasons actually. First, I’m kind of a control freak so having more control over the soil, the drainage, the moisture retention and the roots environment, really makes me feel better. It also makes for a healthier environment for the plants because it relies less on nature to create the best environment for different plants that don’t normally grow together. Raised beds also create an accessible gardening environment that is a gentle approach for our bodies allowing for less strain on our own bodies in the long run. This makes it an ideal space for anyone with physical disabilities or limitations. 

This is a client raised bed 17” deep

We recommend tall deep beds like these by Vegega for anyone needing a more accessible garden or looking to upgrade their existing garden space. An accessible garden is just using adaptive techniques that make gardening easier and more accessible for people with various levels of limitations. 

Not everyone hires us for a turnkey garden. Sometimes it is just to add some adaptive measures or upgrade the garden space to be more accessible. If you have a garden or are looking for some adaptive techniques you can try replacing your garden beds. The accessible beds are at least 17”-24” high to reduce the stress on the body from bending deeply or bending over. And you’ll want to make sure that they are the right width. The arm length doesn’t extend past 2 ft. comfortably. So depending on your garden space you may need a narrower bed than a 4 X 4 square because of accessibility. You may do better with beds that are 5 X 3 or a 6 X 2. Garden beds and spaces are all dependent on the people who are using them. This is why everything we do is customized.

The pathways between the beds are just as important. You’ll want to make sure that your pathways are at least 3 ft wide and obstruction free. It is comfortable enough to get a wheelbarrow or wheelchair through if needed and you can bend slightly without hitting the bed behind you. 

This picture is from Plant Based on a Budget and shows how beautiful large wide pathways can be in an organized raised bed garden.

Another one of the biggest adaptive measures we suggest in making your garden more accessible is installing an irrigation system. The management of water is always a difficult thing for a gardener, but if you add that on top of other limitations, it can feel impossible to get done. So we highly recommend installing irrigation systems like the ones by Garden in Minutes. It allows for individual watering based on a square foot gardening method and waters the soil instead of the leaves which reduces potential for disease. 

Lastly, we highly recommend (for all clients not just those looking for adaptive techniques) to practice intensive planting. This may seem like a lot of plants at first, and many clients get nervous about taking care of the 100 or so plants in one garden bed. But it creates a healthy mini ecosystem that benefits from companion planting and vertical supports to produce an abundance of produce with less water, less weeding, and less maintenance. Who doesn’t love less work for more reward?!

Now that we know some adaptations we can make in the garden, why should we do it? Well, at the end of the day you don’t need to unless you need to, right? But when a garden functions better, is more sustainable, more easily accessible and located in the right position, a gardener wants to be in it! And that’s why we also recommend placement being close to your home. An extension if you will, and become part of your outside entertaining space. You don’t need a grill in your garden space, but a table and chairs are perfect to enjoy all of the physical and mental health benefits of gardening. The closer it is to your home, the more accessible it is to everyone. And the more likely you are to run out and harvest herbs for dinner. 

Gardening increases your Vitamin D, which is essential for literally hundreds of bodily functions like strengthening your bones and boosting your immune system. Gardening also improves anxiety and depression when you come in contact with the soil (good bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, is in healthy soil and by inhaling those microbes when you dig in the dirt it releases serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin naturally). It also reduces stress levels, provides good physical and cardio exercise, and has been shown in some studies (like this one published by the NIH) to improve cognitive function by increasing brain nerve growth.

So just follow our easy to do step process! (Or let us do it for you)

• Analyze who will be using your garden space (or how you want to upgrade it)

• Make sure that your beds are located in the right spot for sun exposure but also accessibility

• Upgrade your beds or install minimum of 17” tall beds 

• Plant intensively

• Tag Homegrown and Harvested so we can see your gorgeous space!

As you can see, gardens are amazing! Ok I know I’m biased as a garden coach, but the produce isn’t the only great thing about having and taking care of a garden. That’s why I feel like accessible gardening and adaptive techniques are so important. It gets a subset of the population exposed to the garden that wouldn’t otherwise be able to have regular access to the physical and mental health benefits the garden provides. And it’s a subset of the population that can truly benefit the most. I love creating gardens for people. I love taking the stress and anxiety out of the decision making process. 

If you or someone you know could benefit from an accessible garden or you have questions about adaptive techniques that you can incorporate in your own garden, I encourage you to reach out to us and schedule a Discovery call to find out what might be right for you. Who knows, maybe we can help build the accessible garden of your dreams.