| Are you in a wheelchair, and long to dig in the dirt | | | | way to ring your doorbell. Put a waist high herb |
| and create flowering beauty and grow far more | | | | garden right outside your kitchen door and add an |
| zucchini than you can give away? Or are your knees | | | | area in it for your favorite cut flowers.When you're |
| just starting to age and even though you've loved | | | | deciding where to locate the raised bed or container, |
| gardening all your life, you're having more trouble | | | | be sure to remember physically demanding |
| getting up and down and are afraid you'll have to | | | | practicalities like dragging a heavy hose to water it. |
| give up gardening altogether? Did you botch the last | | | | Think and plan a low energy solution for what you'll |
| pruning of your roses because of the worsening | | | | do with the compost material.Problem: "My painful |
| arthritis in your hands?Welcome to the world of the | | | | hands don't have the strength for ..."You can get |
| physically challenged gardener.Don't despair. | | | | tools which extend your arms to reach the ground |
| Adapt!There's plenty of help out there in the form of | | | | level flower bed from a sitting position. Several |
| advice, tools, raised flower beds and other specialized | | | | manufacturers make specially tools with light weight |
| equipment. | | | | handles designed to keep the wrist and hand in a |
| A Google search of "Disabled gardening tools" leads | | | | stress-free position and to provide a firmer grip. |
| to 125 websites with specific helpful adaptive | | | | Small, light rakes, hoes, etc. like this can work |
| equipment. "Disabled gardening" gives a whopping | | | | wonders.Think ratchet pruner, ratchet lopping shears |
| 873,000 results where you can find advice and | | | | ... let the laws of physics give your hands a hand. |
| "handicapped gardening" yields 111,000. Let those | | | | You'll be amazed when you look at the tools available. |
| arthritic fingers do your walking!Problem: "The ground | | | | Pull difficult weeds by stepping on a lever.Problem: "I |
| is just too far down there!"Think about doing your | | | | get so tired so quickly."Hey, the weeds didn't grow all |
| gardening while sitting on a chair, instead of on the | | | | at once; you don't have to pull them all at once. Pace |
| ground, squatting or bending over. The most obvious | | | | yourself. Find ways to make gardening something |
| solution is to build raised flower beds and scatter | | | | you do while you sit and drink a cup of tea and listen |
| containers throughout your garden area. Buy cheap | | | | to the birds, rather than a work chore you slave |
| plastic outdoor chairs and place one beside each | | | | away at for a full afternoon. Pull one weed from the |
| mini-garden so you don't have to drag or carry when | | | | scented garden near your front door on your way |
| it's time to weed. You can just sit down and enjoy | | | | out and another weed on the way in. Plant parsley in |
| the feel of moist earth beneath your fingers and | | | | your kitchen door herb garden while your toast is |
| breathe in the heavenly smell of freshly applied fish | | | | toasting and the coffee is dripping.Buy and plant 3 |
| emulsion.If you hang a cup holder on the edge of | | | | packs of flowers instead of a whole flat. Take a nice |
| your container, you can even have the luxury of tea | | | | aerobic walk around your yard, stopping at a |
| or coffee with your weeds. Maybe the fish emulsion | | | | different container for 5 minutes "conversation" with |
| should wait.Don't think about what you've lost now | | | | your plants on each cycle, then go back inside and |
| that you can't crawl around weeding the perennial | | | | plop on the recliner. You'll be amazed at how much |
| border; teach your grandchild or a neighborhood kid | | | | gets done in these mini-work sessions. Your heart will |
| the joy to be found doing that task ... you've just | | | | love you, too.Remember, one of the nice things |
| discovered a new adventure in gardening. The good | | | | about flowers is they don't have anything to prove. |
| news is that you may find whole different special | | | | We can all learn a lesson from them.This article |
| areas of your yard where you can stick a | | | | courtesy of |
| mini-garden.Get creative. Put a beautiful container | | | | You may freely reprint this article on your website |
| near your front door and plant wonderfully scented | | | | or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice |
| flowers to greet your guests ... or perhaps a nice | | | | and the author name and URL remain intact. |
| cherry tomato plant they can steal from on their | | | | |