Raised Bed Gardening for Senior City Dwellers and Small Yards
Caregiver in Herndon VA: Raised Bed Gardening for Senior City Dwellers and Small Yards
Confused about how you can garden in the city or if you have a small yard? Containers can provide a variety of colorful and fragrant flowers, as well as delicious vegetables, and they are easier to manage than a garden. For the elderly, all the digging, hoeing, weeding, mowing and watering, that make a garden beautiful, can be especially hard on backs, shoulders and knees.
Experiment with different types of containers, and look for containers on sale. Be creative and try old baby bathtubs, buckets, wheelbarrows or whatever you can find. Deeper containers are great for vegetables and small trees.
Save your back by placing the container where you want it, then filling it with soil, natural fertilizer, and plants. A layer of stones or broken pottery will improve drainage. And buy smaller bags of soil—they are much easier to handle.
Start small with your container gardens. It’s easy to be dazzled at the garden center and buy more plants than you can handle. Pace yourself and buy only what you can plant at one time. Even if buying a whole flat is cheaper, the wear and tear on your body to get all those plants in the dirt does not make it a sound purchase.
Here’s a list of what you need to get started:
- Gloves. Seniors’ hands are more sensitive than they used to be. Making sure they are protected will help them enjoy the gardening experience and look forward to the next.
- Sharp tools. Make sure tools are sharp and have the proper padding for hands.
- Knee Stool. Having a heavily padded knee stool at the proper height is key.
- Pots that are bigger than you think you need. At the store they look huge, but when you get them home they’re just right. Anything can be a pot as long as it has a drainage hole in the bottom. Don’t wind up with a lot of small pots; it’s a pain to water them frequently enough to keep them from drying out. You can combine a couple of small plants in one big pot.
- Potting soil. Potting soil is designed for drainage so make sure and get one with plenty of nutrients too.
- Watering cans. You can reuse juice or milk jugs.
- Trellis or pole. You want to maximize the vertical space.
- Hanging baskets. Suspend them from hooks or you can hang flower boxes over the railing.
- Twine. Top-heavy plants can easily be knocked over by the wind, so we have our biggest plants tied securely to the balcony railing. Twine can be used to support vegetables and train climbing vines (grocery twist ties are good for that too).
With a little bit of planning, you can start and maintain a colorful and healthy garden. It’s not hard to enjoy flowers, plants and even vegetables in a garden, but try not tackle it all at once. Choose your senior’s favorite vegetable or flower and place them within close view so they can watch them grow.
Lastly, know your elderly one’s limits, plan carefully and use the right tools to have a garden you will both enjoy for years to come.
If you or an aging loved one are considering caregiver services in Herndon, VA, call the caring staff at Medical Professionals On Call today. 703-273-8818
Medical Professionals On Call has such a caring, professional staff who are available to step in with whatever level of care necessary for loved ones and to relieve you of that stress.
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