A little about me and how this website came about.
Having been interested in gardening from an early age, and gone through various stages of learning and development I know how rewarding and absorbing it can be.
My legs have never been up to much. Polio at the age of 18 months, several operations and time spent in plaster left me with a caliper (braces) for support and a built up boot to compensate for 4″ (10cm) or so of shortening. The other leg looks ok but isn’t strong. Can’t crouch, can’t walk very well, can’t carry much but mostly I find a way – I can do it!
As the years went by and I progressed from a few pots on a windowsill to a small London garden, to a large garden in the countryside, so my ingenuity grew to make the garden tasks easier to perform.
In my present garden, I could not do it without some outside help. My husband has been roped in and his interest too has grown with his involvement. We have a friend who visits a few times a year who joins in with enthusiasm when he’s here. Loves the exercise and the visible results:)
Now I have a garden which is not tended enough, gets out of control but nevertheless gives me, and any visitors, great pleasure.
Different bits of the garden flourish each year, depending on the attention it received the previous season or early in the year. There is always a new project or an old one re-visited.
It would be lovely to have regular outside help, but that’s not an option and it no longer distresses me too much that I don’t. I’m just a little sorry that I can’t follow up on all my bright ideas!
I started thinking more about things that could make them happen and my ideas for this website grew.
My hope and aim is that the stories I find will inspire, the tips and tools will make things easier and that I can make you laugh at times.
I am grateful to neighbours and friends for their input, with particular thanks to Julie who also writes articles for the Disabled Gardening website. I can’t think of everything. Nor can I have first-hand experience of every difficulty. Any stories you have, projects you have completed or tips and tricks – including pictures you have taken – will be gratefully received.
As well as providing information and ideas for people who need aids and equipment in order to garden and a quick and easy way to find and get tools and other products, I would like to be able to help the people who want to help, so that they know what helps and what to avoid.
So far, it has only touched the surface and I am still researching and finding things to add but I sincerely hope that this website will help others who feel discouraged or helpless to have a go and keep on gardening!
above:
Stina – a slightly Disabled Gardener getting down close to weed the path. I usually have a larger piece of carpet to sit on – I don’t know what made me forget it on this occasion – probably stopped on the way to the compost heap!