Post by coppice on Sept 28, 2011 7:46:01 GMT -5
Re-stating the obvious:
Everything old gets to be new again, some time or another.
Back starting after WW-II, a huge bubble of babies were born. I at least am one of those 'boomers', of the baby-boom generation. In the generational chasm between our grandparents (great depression) generation and todays garden practice has changed; or at least home garden practice has.
When I was just a little snot, the usual practice was to clean garden (IE no mulch). Ruth Stouts heavily mulched beds were routinely derided and heckled, or were the exclusive province of nurseries and arborists. Hoeing to reduce weeds was part and parcel of a garden.
"French" raised bed (or intensive) gardening was something a few Englishmen did. Mostly for flowers...
Fast-forward forty years and some shape of raised bed and a pretty constant covering of ground-cloth and or mulch is much more normal, if not routine.
Back-to-the-lander returnist gardeners have gotten a little snow on their roof. Walking aides are visiting gardens that might've never driven around in them in my grandfathers day. Um and in fact probably could not have driven around in old John T's carefully hoed garden. He in fact stopped gardening when his mobility declined, which was long before his health failed.
OK, I have foreshadowed the obvious.
A modern garden built to accommodate mobility aides will in the most general of terms have four feet wide raised beds with four feet wide walkways and six foot end aisles.
My experience is to build access into my garden, or my garden will squeeze me out.
I have tinkered with the hight of raised beds, both for my own access, and for access for other mobility disabled people. Oddly enough, hight much taller than twelve inches, does not lead to greater access.
I've watched programs like This Old House build hulking 30" tall beds for mobility disabled people and I've not found such an expense gets dirt to me, near as much (or as well) as I needed good ways to get me to dirt.
Time frames:
This gardener hates the idea of moving. That said an honest gardener can probably make their own assessment of roughly how long the garden is gonna be a useful yard ornament.
If you believe your garden will be in place (and used) five years or less, I'd build mine with the cheapest material you can scrounge (but not buy). This means probably not with pressure treated lumber.
For beds with a planned obsolescence of greater than five years, I'd recommend cinder blocks; and I'd stop with a second tier (16").
All-in-all this makes a pretty normal looking vegetable (or flower) garden.
It takes some use, and some seasons of driving a walker or powered chair around in your garden before (or if) a transfer bar is called for. Its frequency (as in how many you'll need) is probably the most variable garden built-in feature only your trials will dictate.
Hm, how do I tell by text what a transfer bar is? OK, I think I'll start indoors. One arch-typical transfer aide is a bed-caine, or hand rail on the side of a bed. it permits the PWD (person with disability) to wrench them selves into sitting up or standing up position.
In the garden a transfer bar can be something as simple as a two inch iron pipe driven into the edge of a raised bed. Odds is you'll need fewer of them than you think, but one at least is a good thing for me to pull my fat arse up off the ground. Once up I'll stumble my way back to my ride...
I think I'll shut up for now. Others experience may not totally be in agreement with my ability level. But this should be a place to start discussion.
Everything old gets to be new again, some time or another.
Back starting after WW-II, a huge bubble of babies were born. I at least am one of those 'boomers', of the baby-boom generation. In the generational chasm between our grandparents (great depression) generation and todays garden practice has changed; or at least home garden practice has.
When I was just a little snot, the usual practice was to clean garden (IE no mulch). Ruth Stouts heavily mulched beds were routinely derided and heckled, or were the exclusive province of nurseries and arborists. Hoeing to reduce weeds was part and parcel of a garden.
"French" raised bed (or intensive) gardening was something a few Englishmen did. Mostly for flowers...
Fast-forward forty years and some shape of raised bed and a pretty constant covering of ground-cloth and or mulch is much more normal, if not routine.
Back-to-the-lander returnist gardeners have gotten a little snow on their roof. Walking aides are visiting gardens that might've never driven around in them in my grandfathers day. Um and in fact probably could not have driven around in old John T's carefully hoed garden. He in fact stopped gardening when his mobility declined, which was long before his health failed.
OK, I have foreshadowed the obvious.
A modern garden built to accommodate mobility aides will in the most general of terms have four feet wide raised beds with four feet wide walkways and six foot end aisles.
My experience is to build access into my garden, or my garden will squeeze me out.
I have tinkered with the hight of raised beds, both for my own access, and for access for other mobility disabled people. Oddly enough, hight much taller than twelve inches, does not lead to greater access.
I've watched programs like This Old House build hulking 30" tall beds for mobility disabled people and I've not found such an expense gets dirt to me, near as much (or as well) as I needed good ways to get me to dirt.
Time frames:
This gardener hates the idea of moving. That said an honest gardener can probably make their own assessment of roughly how long the garden is gonna be a useful yard ornament.
If you believe your garden will be in place (and used) five years or less, I'd build mine with the cheapest material you can scrounge (but not buy). This means probably not with pressure treated lumber.
For beds with a planned obsolescence of greater than five years, I'd recommend cinder blocks; and I'd stop with a second tier (16").
All-in-all this makes a pretty normal looking vegetable (or flower) garden.
It takes some use, and some seasons of driving a walker or powered chair around in your garden before (or if) a transfer bar is called for. Its frequency (as in how many you'll need) is probably the most variable garden built-in feature only your trials will dictate.
Hm, how do I tell by text what a transfer bar is? OK, I think I'll start indoors. One arch-typical transfer aide is a bed-caine, or hand rail on the side of a bed. it permits the PWD (person with disability) to wrench them selves into sitting up or standing up position.
In the garden a transfer bar can be something as simple as a two inch iron pipe driven into the edge of a raised bed. Odds is you'll need fewer of them than you think, but one at least is a good thing for me to pull my fat arse up off the ground. Once up I'll stumble my way back to my ride...
I think I'll shut up for now. Others experience may not totally be in agreement with my ability level. But this should be a place to start discussion.
