Accessible Gardening: Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners, 1 by Amargia

Amargia wrote:
Officially, Christmas decorating starts here after Thanksgiving dinner. It is part of the Thanksgiving celebration. But, little decorations do mysteriously start appearing here and there after Halloween. The ghost of Christmas future?

We decided on the building material for the permanent W/C ramp to the high deck. This deck gives a view of half of the original property so it would be a shame if it were not w/c accessible. It will be concrete. (And, no I did not bully anyone to get that material. It was the one that made sense. Wood would be too maintenance intensive in our humidity. Steel is too hot where 100+ summer temps aren’t unusual. Especially a problem with rails. I’ve noticed many wheelchair users depend on rails as much as those of us who just have poor balance. I can tell you from experience with our black steel staircase rail that steel can get hot enough to burn in high summer.

Does that end the debates? Ha! Now, we are debating pitch, the slope of the ramp. 1-12 or 1-16 or let it be determined by the length of the ramp, which would probably make the slope even more gradual than 1-16. (1 inch of drop for every 16 inches. etc.)

I consider the lantana to be at its best at the moment because it has both flowers and berries. Despite its interesting scent, I am taking it out of the V.I.’s fragrance garden. Too many people react badly to brushing against the foliage. We will still keep it. It is such a dependable plant. We will move it to the hedge border around the Aztec garden area.> I think it can handle the tougher conditions there. . I would like to wait until the seeds mature, though. Just in case it doesn’t like the move. *Kay*