Unique Gardening Ideas When Mobility is Limited

By Jamie Shapiro | March 11, 2020 | Comments Off on Unique Gardening Ideas When Mobility is Limited

Excitement is building. Your parents love watching their mail for the annual seed catalogs and sales. Your parents don’t want to let changes to their mobility keep them from gardening. They don’t have to. There are many intriguing ways to make gardening possible even when you need a cane, walker, or wheelchair.

Raised Beds

Home Care in Highland Park, IL: Mobility and Gardening

Raised beds are the easiest type of garden. The garden is built from cedar boards that repel insects and water. Fill the beds with garden soil and manure. The height makes them easier to water, weed, and plant.

Build them so that they are a few feet above the ground. Arrange them to leave plenty of room for wheelchair users to move around. If your parent is in a wheelchair, the garden will be easy to reach. Otherwise, have a lightweight portable chair or garden seat that can be easily moved from one location to the next.

Vertical Gardening

Vertical gardens free up a lot of space on a patio. It’s not hard to create this type of garden. Install fencing around the patio. Make the fencing so that it’s not too high. You want to aim for a 4- or 5-foot fence.

At the base of the fence, build narrow raised beds that are a few feet long. Root crops, herbs, and bush plants like eggplant and tomatoes should be at waist height to make them easy to harvest. Climbing vines like squash, pole beans, and peas use the fencing as a trellis to climb. With gaps between each of the raised beds, your parents can get close enough to pick from the vines.

A Rotating Garden Table

For those who are skilled at DIY chores, a rotating garden table is a great idea. You have to be creative and come up with your own plans. Think about the playground merry-go-rounds. You’re taking that base structure and building a raised bed on top of the mechanism that spins it around.

Rather than going to the other area of the garden, your parents use the handles to move the garden to them. As you don’t want the table to become too heavy, you have to limit the plants in this type of garden to herbs and low bush plants like bush beans.

How prepared are you for the care your mom and dad need as mobility changes? If you haven’t thought about it, you’re not alone. Many families only start to think about it after a fall or illness. At your next family gathering, start a conversation about home care.

As mobility changes, your parents don’t need to give up favorite activities. Caregivers provide the support that’s needed for your mom and dad to stay active and social. Talk to a home care specialist to learn more.

 

If you or an aging loved one are considering home care in Highland Park, IL, contact the caring staff at Companion Services of America today at (847) 943-3786. Our home care service area includes Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Des Plaines, Skokie, Lake Forest, Wilmette and the surrounding areas. 

Jamie Shapiro
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