Important Tips for Designing an Elder Accessible Garden

Gardening Made Easy for Seniors

Gardening is more than a way to pass the time. In fact, working in a garden offers immense physical and mental health benefits to seniors. However, it can also be difficult or painful for seniors with mobility challenges and health conditions. That’s where elder-accessible garden design comes in. Reducing bending, crouching and other movements that could be painful not only help you stay active, but could help increase your home value.

If you’re also considering preparing your home for sale, make sure you use a checklist to prepare for your appraisal. Planting flowers and adding mulch to your new garden can help increase your home value. Through smart design, it’s possible to plan gardens that allow seniors to reap the benefits of gardening without sacrificing safety or comfort.

This article is a guest post article written by Nicola Reid from Redfin

Here is a list of tips for gardening for older adults to enjoy an accessible flowering garden.

Garden Layout

An accessible garden should have wide, barrier-free entrances and pathways to create access for wheelchair users. We recommend constructing pathways with poured concrete or tightly laid pavers. If done correctly, crushed stone is also an option.

Garden Beds

Garden beds should be accessible from a seated or standing position to minimize the need for bending, stooping, and kneeling, and to create access for wheelchair users.

We recommend building raised beds 28 to 30 inches high. However, you may choose to build waist-height beds with open space underneath to allow seated gardeners. Ensure garden beds are small enough that users can access the bed center.

Landscape Lighting for Elderly

Landscape lights increase outdoor safety, especially in dimly lit areas. Lights should be placed along pathways and steps to prevent accidents. If gardeners use the space in the evenings, consider overhead flood lights to illuminate the space.

Irrigation for Elder Accessible Garden

Drip irrigation set to automatic timers is a low-maintenance gardening essential. Gardeners can use drip irrigation to deliver water directly to plants, which conserves water and reduces weed pressure. High-quality drip irrigation can be buried for several years before replacement.

Plant Choice

Some of the most popular vegetable garden plants are also some of the most demanding. Plants like tomatoes and cucumbers require pruning and harvest to stay healthy and productive. While there’s no need to forgo these plants if your gardeners want them, balance high-maintenance annuals with perennial plants that require minimal labor to stay productive year after year. We also recommend native plants, evergreen shrubs, and ornamental grasses to create low-maintenance beauty in the garden.

You can also use air plants, we wrote a complete guide about air plants.

Getting Set Up

If your garden needs some significant updating to make it easier for you to work, it may be worth having an expert gardener come in to help get you situated. The right gardener will assess plant choice, placement, and pathways and give you some pointers on how to keep your garden healthy across the seasons. They can literally lay the groundwork so that you’ll have an easier time enjoying your garden and working comfortably.

Gardening tools for elderly

In addition to accessible garden design, seniors need the right tools to make gardening comfortable. A kneeler stool that can be used kneeling or sitting is a great way to reduce bending and stooping, ergonomic tools like pruners, trowels, and weeders reduce discomfort for adults with arthritis, and a garden cart makes it easy to haul items to and from the garden.

Elder Accessible Garden Summary

Gardening can be an incredible boon to senior wellness, but only if it’s done correctly. If older adults have to strain their bodies to work in the garden, they could become injured or fall ill from sun and heat exposure. By following this advice, you can design a garden that ensures the safety and enjoyment of older gardeners.

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