How to manage gardening with disabilities

[livingwith]

Just found this topic. Hope I'm not duplicating but couldn't see a thread on this. About 8 years ago I bought a house with my now ex husband, with quite a large garden. I was in good health and anticipated 20 plus years of looking after it together. Sadly just before moving in I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and within another 2 years he had left. The cancer and treatment (still in palliative) has left me with.mobility, fatigue, pain and muscle weakness problems. In gardening terms I find it hard to kneel, sit and bend down, climb a ladder or steps, do things needing strength etc. Not great! I don't want to sell up as this is my dream home for the time I have left. I pay for major jobs like hedge cutting, have got rid of all pots, have made a big lawn area into wildflower meadow. Have paid various people for other help over time. Also had some volunteer help and recently handed over a veg bed to lodgers. Sometimes adult children help, and now my new partner. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has any other tips or even just similar concerns, would like a sense of solidarity! I do some myself in short bursts, as energy and muscles allow. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I do have some money to pay for help but need to be careful with this.

I hope you are still getting joy from your garden

Do you have a lot of grass? Good robot lawn mowers have reduced in price and improved in practicality massively in the last year, and they don’t need any wire or antenna set up. Something like this one sets itself up in minutes.

Do you have practical things like a long handled weed puller, kneeling stool etc?

If you find the grass too much to deal with I saw on YouTube some people are removing the grass and sprinting clover seeds to make clover gardens...when it's grown you still have the green garden appearance and is supposed to be simple to take care of because it doesn't grow long like grass does

Thanks for these tips @Giraffeandthedog@Ilovenutellaaaaa. Mowing not such a big problem but hadn't thought of this weed puller, will look into it. Wonder if there are any other gadgets. And yes I get so much joy from my garden! Have brought it back from a building site / sea of mud, to woodland ish and native plants haven!

A few very practical gadget suggestions that have worked for me when I have had periods of difficulty. Amazon links because they are easiest, but available elsewhere (I think I got most of mine in Lidl). Obviously you might already have some of these.

Weed puller - good for the stubborn weeds, with no bending at all
stirrup hoe - much easier for general weeding than getting down in hands and knees
kneeling stool - sometimes the only way I can actually manage to get down and back up again
Garden cart/tool tidy - a godsend for saving energy - you just need to wheel it to where you are working rather than going back and forth to bring everything
Bypass secateurs - really strong secateurs for weaker hands
Long reach pruner - so you don’t have to climb ladders (although I find it difficult to use)
pot trolly - makes it really say to move pots around (although you said you’ve got rid of your pots)
Long reach tools - so you don’t have to bend so far (used in combination with the kneeling stool). Or you can get ones that you can use from standing - gardenia do a whole “combi-system”

The most useful thing by far for me has been the cart, so when I don’t have much energy I can spend it on actually gardening, rather than getting ready to garden.

Also remember when it gets to summer, hosepipe bans rightly do not apply to those with a disability.

I would love to see pictures of your garden @livingwith if you were happy to share them.

What tasks are you having the most difficult with? And which give you the most pleasure?

Thanks so much for all the links @Giraffeandthedog. I've never heard of most of these things and will definitely try to find a few. Good point about the trolley, I have got one but hadn't thought to take it round with me. And yes I'd recently heard about the hosepipe thing, very useful. I'll look for some pictures soon.

Most difficult tasks - weeding, reaching to prune, any getting up and down from ground (like planting). Most pleasurable- walking round looking at it all, sitting in comfy chair with a drink listening to the birds! Also I like planning, seeing the growth, choosing plants, knowing I have supported wildlife.

You also might find that you get more replies in the Gardening topic (you can report your post and ask for it to be moved).

Here are some photos I think from last summer.

Oh my goodness. Absolutely stunning @livingwith I hope you are very proud. No wonder it brings you joy. How long did it take you? Was it just a bare site when you started?

Before photos back and front - as I was very ill at the time, the garden designer who I'd developed my ideas with planted most of it in 2021, and I've developed and maintained since then.

Luckily there were some mature trees around the edges. Thanks for your positive feedback @Giraffeandthedog. I'll probably try to transfer it to the gardening section as you suggest.

@livingwith - your garden is stunning. I was checking out your post for tips as I did 20 mins in mine today and vowed never again as it always gets me but then I can't resist the weeds.

i never knew the hose pipe ban does not apply to the disabled - that's useful to know for the summer months

Adding left-handed bypass secateurs to your tool collection lets you alternate hands to alleviate tiredness. A decent wide-brimmed hat prevents light-induced eyestrain.

Your garden is absolutely stunning OP!

I've given in and I'm having my very first gardener coming to mow the lawns this week. It's a newish house to me so I'm quite sad that I can't take care of it already despite thinking I could when I bought it last year.

If weeding is an issue you could invest in enough wood chip or other mulch to put a big 10cm layer on all places you want to stop weeds.
In particularly weedy areas, layers of cardboard beneath.

Your garden is beautiful!