Most important consideration for gardeners with disabilities?

I think there must be more disabled gardeners out there than I realized. Not only are all the considerations important, but one day one may be the most important and on another day something else is most important. With fibromyalgia I can do one thing one day and then can't do it again for days. I do think raised beds have helped me alot. It certainly has reduced the area I have to keep weeded and watered. Ours are formed with concrete blocks so I also have something to sit on while working.

I also have a disability for fibromyalgia and have found
weeding to be a killer. Have been thinking about some raised beds in the backyard so I don't have to bend so much.

Have found the best thing for me is to try and pace myself a
little bit better and not try to do it all at once. But I am itching to get out there in some nice weather!!

I plan on gardening until I fall over dead. (Hopefully in the garden! :0) All the above is what I marked, because the day specifies the need. But if I could only have one, it would be raised beds. (Which I do not have, cost is prohibitive for me.) But the one flower bed that is raised is so much easier. I can sit on the edge and reach everywhere. I love it. I bet all of us would rather we could wish away the disability, if we could have a wish. LOL

I have so many (aids) to help me do my thing,not just gardening. DH built me a raised bed fron cinder blocks(the ones with two holes)He brought them from the back of garage(brick)out about 20" and the width of garage(two door)filled it with all the trash,rock limbs grass clippings.any thing to help fill so we wouldn' have to move in a lot of dirt. then we used potting mixtures sheep manure and mulch to top it off. Every year I plant something different there, moss in the holes and a few cherry tomatoes to hang over the edge .so easy for me to go out and pick them. Been wantng to do herbs,but haven't had much luck so far. A tool I use a lot is a surgical clamp. I pull out weeds, can't craft without it .It helps because I have no gripping power in my hands. DH has put levers on faucets and runs hoses,some soakers to several beds.He helps me plant plants and I watch em' grow or die.To plant seed, I use a curtain rod. Hold it in the hole I punched with it and have the curved part in my lap.drop the seed and let it ride down the shaft.You can see it go down, and the wind don't blow it away. Then I pour a little soil over and water...wait.

I think raised beds would be so wonderful. I am unable to garden much on my own due to lack of things I need. It takes so long for someone to agree or have time to help.

I can't speak for myself, but my son who is disabled loves to garden with me, and definately the raised beds are a good thing for him, cause he cant lean down when he is using his crutches, or he can sit on the grown, but once down he cant get back up, so he crawls around. (an that is bad on his knees...he has elephant skin on his knees from crawling outside) He enjoys picking the vegetables the most, eating fresh strawberries and cherry tomatoes. And he is a big help watering. He will help me plant the tomatoes this year, this will be our second year with raised beds.

I voted for level surfaces or gradual slopes because DH is in a wheelchair and steps or uneven slopes/surfaces would prevent him from even getting INTO the yard and garden area. He looks forward to us developing a raised bed area for him to work in. After reading everyone's responses, I guess the best answer is: It really depends on the gardener's specific needs.

As someone with fibromyalgia, plus back problems and carpul tunnel/arthritis in both hands, all the the suggestions are valid, it depends on how "good" or "bad" of a day I'm having. I would say that the one thing that hurts the most is bending over to plant, weed, trim, etc., as I can't get on my knees to do this. I also would vote for level ground for when I broke my foot last May, that is what kept me out of the yard/garden for 9 months as I couldn't go out there with a walking cast on (it was like a rocker bottom) and I would lose my balance. So, there are a number of issues to be dealt with depending on your limitations.

I agree that it depends on the disability and the day. right now, I'd like to have a well trained garden slave. Yesterday was the first really good day that we've had and this morning is a really bad morning. I thought I had paced myself, but a lot of me is screaming this morning. I will be out there again today - way too much to do - but I will probably work in the raised beds, I have a few with lovely rock walls for sitting on, or do things I can do standing up.

I voted for all the above because like so many others, it depends on what is hurting worse or easiest to do for the day that I worry about. I have several disabilities, but gardening has saved my sanity for the past 5 years. I was told to do things in moderation at the beginning(5 years ago, when I got really bad), lol, but I have found that my alloted 15 to 20 minute work time can strech into an hour or more if I am not careful, then I have to pay big time for the next couple of days. Yesterday, I went digging in the woods and along the sides of the road with my husband and this morning I can barely move. If anyone of you ever comes up with a great way to resist the garden-call when your time is up, please let me know. I'll give anything a try.
Jackie

My DH has had 3 surgeries on his Elbow in the last 3 years, he shattered it in a truck accident, last summer he had 2 more surgeries on his wrists for Carpel Tunnel, and he has severe arthritis in his back from a car accident in his mid-twenties in which he severly cracked 3 vertabrae. Our raised-bed gardens are a real blessing, but more importantly are our Ergonomic gardening tools. OXO brand makes wonderful kitchen tools, with large handles, which we rely upon heavily. I recently found thier garden tools series at a discount store, it was the smaller hand tools: trowel, fork & bypass pruners, etc. Just lovely to use! We bought a set for his Grandpap who had a stroke 2 years ago. A word of caution about this brand though, the handles are made of neoprene rubber, if you have any allergies to latex, do not use them. My sister had a severe reaction to them.
I have a cheap trick to share also; for people that have problems with gripping you can adapt many of your larger hand tools such as rakes by going to the hardware store and getting some of those wonderful insulating tubes for pipes and simply duct taping them at the top and bottem to keep them from slipping. I also have one that is cut for the mower handle it serves a dual purpose, it makes it easier to grip and absorbs alot of vibration.
Hydroponic gardening is also great for people with disabilities.

i voted for it depends on the person/disability. i have rsd, a chronic pain disease and it sure depends on the day for me. But the garden has given me so much joy since i started just 3 years ago. i started out small and each year it is growing.
as far as weeds, i have a hard time getting down and moving around to weed them so i buy either Miracle Grow weed prevent and fertilizer or just the weed prevent. you throw it out on your beds once a month and it deters any new weeds from growing. it has been the #1 life saver for me in my garden. sure its chemicals, but it is either that or lots of pain and or weeds.
the second biggest help in my garden is Dave's. :) i have learned so much here, people have been so gracious is sharing there extra plants with me so that i may have variety and beauty in my gardens.
i have no raised beds but am going to put in 2 this year. will hire someone to do this. my dh doesn't like outdoor work, and he works too many hours plus does the housework, so that i can expend whatever energy i have in ways i enjoy, which is the garden and crafting. he's a doll. :)
happy gardening
debi z

I became disabled in 1997. The only thing I could remember even when I couldn't talk was how to plant seeds and garden. I sowed lots of seeds that year, made lots of mistakes, but had lots of new plants for my garden.

To control weeds I planted lots of creeping plants or ground covers so I never had much weeding to do.

Now I'm riddled with osteoarthritis in all my joints. Some days I can hardly move and there are days when I have to use the walker to even get around. To complicate things further I stepped in a pot hole in January and tore the ligaments in both knees and my right ankle. I'm just able to tend my plants in pots on the porch this year. The remainder of the garden is overgrown and needs help desparately...oh well there is always another time in the future to do these things.

I'm going to eventually have all of my beds raised, one at a time to make things easier for me. Straight paths help as do formal rectangular beds when I use my walker. I need a ramp from my kitchen door to tend my kitchen patio garden which I was unable to plant this year.

I used a small stool this year to pull weeds in the front beds. Getting down was much easier than getting up and I used my cane for support when needed.

Gardening certainly became excellent therapy for me in more ways than one. I would be lost without my garden. Like my great great uncle who continued to farm right up until he died at age 93, I'm going to rest in peace with a trowel in my hand.