How to Create an Accessible Garden

About Tori Thurmond

Tori Thurmond combines her creative writing background with her marketing experience in her role as the Content Specialist at Brookdale. When she's not writing, she's probably spending time with her two cats or knitting.

Love gardening but finding it more of a challenge as you get older? Walking on uneven ground and bending over to tend to a patch can be hard on the body. Here are a few ways to help make gardening more accessible, so you can keep enjoying this hobby for as long as possible.

Incorporate Raised Beds

Raised beds are one of the more popular accessible gardening tools. You can plant almost anything in your raised beds that you would plant in the ground. Raised beds come in many shapes and sizes and may help wheelchair-bound gardeners and those who aren’t able to bend down fully. Whether you build raised beds of your own or purchase one, make sure it’s the recommended height for your mobility needs.

Build a Path

If you have a large garden or one with uneven terrain, consider creating a garden path to help make navigating your yard easier. A path can help make a garden accessible for people with a wide range of mobility levels. While a concrete path may be the first thing that comes to mind, there are many materials to consider depending on your needs, such as gravel or boardwalk materials. Medium-sized crushed gravel can help provide a quick, stable surface for wheelchair users while a boardwalk offers a more permanent and polished solution to making your garden more accessible.

Use Adaptive Garden Tools

Adaptive gardening tools, such as the extended reach hoe and cultivator, retractable garden hose and extended pruners mentioned in Cozy Little House’s blog are great examples of modifications that have been made to traditional gardening tools. If you have limited reach or can’t bend down to use shorter gardening tools, consider modifying your own tools or buying some that will make your time in the garden more enjoyable.

Plant Perennials

Planting perennials will save you the effort of replanting your entire garden each year. Not only can you plant perennial flowers that will return to brighten up your garden year after year but many vegetables, fruits and herbs are also perennials. Plants like sweet potatoes, broccoli, blackberries and mint are just a few examples of plants you can sow once and receive years of yield from. But some plants that grow perennially in certain locations may not come back every year in others. Research your growing zone or ask your local gardening center for guidance on what perennials grow best in your area.

For more gardening inspo, check out the 8 Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Grow in a Pot and 5 Plants That Love Being Outside Year-Round.