Accessible gardening

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blue47 Bulverde, TX Aug 28, 2007

My husband is in a wheelchair and we are trying to plan an accessible garden. We are of course planning to have raised beds - 18"?? Should we have paths completely around the beds or just make them narrow enough for him to reach across? What sort of path (material) might work best for a wheelchair? Also, what tools would work best for him - he has full use of his arms & hands, but has trouble leaning over too far. Any advice would be appreciated.

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Farmerdill Augusta, GA(Zone 8a) Aug 28, 2007

Blue, I am completely ignorant on this issue. I did go to the accessible gardening forum and steal a few ideas for you. It seems that raised beds or containers like Earth Boxes are the way to go. Two feet high seems to be the average recommendation ( depends on whether it is a conventional wheel car or one of the motorized scooters. It also seems two feet wide for one side access or four feet wide if it can be accessed from either side. They also talk about light weight long handled and telescoping handle tools. the path 32 inches wide with a smooth hard surface. Accessible gardening is a subscriber only forum, but it might be worth your while. In the meantime here is a site that was reccommended over there. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/RG111.pdf

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blue47 Bulverde, TX Aug 28, 2007

Thanks Farmerdill, I will definitely check this site out.

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growingup Tucson, AZ Aug 28, 2007

Hi there. I use the square foot gardening method. If you check out Mel's site http://www.squarefootgardening.com/ , it has a section on how convenient it can be for people of all different abilities, and how to make the paths between the boxes about 3' wide.

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tucsonjill Lincoln, NE(Zone 5a) Aug 28, 2007

My own raised beds are about 5' wide, and maybe 2 1/2' high, and I gotta tell you, it's really difficult even for a fully mobile person to get to the middle of it. If you can find a way to test how far your husband can comfortably reach (maybe with a table?), it might be a good way to figure out what size will work best for him. I do recommend accessibility from both sides. I have one bed that is flat against a wall, and even if it were narrower, it would be difficult to get in there to do much, especially when there are other plants between you and what you're trying to work with.

Hope that helps!

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catmad Pelzer, SC(Zone 7b) Aug 31, 2007

Check out the Strawbale Gardening Forum. It seems to fit into the accessible category, and is great fun. Earth Boxes are a great idea, but kind of pricey for some.

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