Making Your Garden Accessible
Barrier Free Gardens
Barriers free gardens are gardens that are designed in such a way that all people in your neighborhood can participate. Your garden may be designed to eliminate some of the barriers that prevent people from participating in a community garden.
What is a barrier?
A barrier is anything that prevents an individual or group from participating in community gardening. Three main barriers may be physical, cultural or language barriers.
What are examples of barriers?
- Having paths that are too narrow or bumpy that prevents wheelchair use
- Having fliers for events only in English, with writing above a grade six level
- Holding stereotypes about certain groups
- Not including raised beds
Who in our community may encounter barriers?
- individuals with disabilities
- migrants to Waterloo Region and immigrant newcomers
- individuals whose first language is not English
- individuals with low literacy
- individuals with injuries or short-term disabilities
People who may be affected by physical barriers In
In 2001, about 70, 541 individuals were estimated to have a physical disability in our Region. That number is expected to rise by 5.3% in the next 25 years signifying a greater number of people who may experience a barrier. Consider designing your community garden to be physically accessible and barrier free.
Building a barrier- free garden (Rothert, G. , 1994)
There are three basic things you can do to make your garden physically accessible;
1. Path Surfacing (for paths in the garden)
2. Raised Beds, Containers
3. Markers /adjustments to paths and contours for those with visual impairments
Path Surfacing
Garden surfaces are important areas to consider. Grass turf surfaces, woodchips are very difficult for people to use with a wheelchair or stroller. Better choices are hard surface paving, packed clay soil, decomposed granite, or packed crushed stone or gravel (number nine gravel stone recommended). Garden paths must be level, firm, with little slope and wide enough to turn a wheel chair around - about three feet.
Raised Beds
Raised beds are garden structures that are built to heights that can accommodate different abilities to sit or bend. By raising soil levels people with difficulty bending or who are in wheelchairs are able to garden. A raised bed for a seated gardener or a gardener using a wheel chair should be on average 2 feet high and 30 inches wide for access from one side (60 inches to be accessible from all sides). Seating can be constructed on the sides of the bed and should be more than 8 inches wide. For gardeners who can not bend the average height for a raised bed is about 30 inches. Raised beds can be hand-made from wood or vinyl containers or bought. Use materials that will not contaminate the soil with chemical leaching. Some community gardens have adapted picnic tables for their raised beds. The beds should be located on a suitable path close to a water source and compost bins.
Container Gardening
Just about any container that has drainage holes and can hold soil can be transformed into a container garden. Consideration must given to chemical leaching when choosing a container. Old tires should not be used for vegetable gardening due to potential soil contamination.
Tool design for physical impairments (Rothert, G. (1994))
People with physical barriers may also benefit from specially designed tools. Some helpful tips for tools or equipment may be:
- Lightweight aluminum alloy blades for hand tools (towels, cultivators)
- Longer or extendable handles for rakes, spades and hoes
- Smaller blades and tool heads (suggest combining business ends of children’s gardening tools with standard handles up to 72 inches long)
- Large-diameter and padded/molded handles grips – thumb and index finger should just begin to overlap when gripping
- Tools that enable both hands to be used or allow for the tool to be held close to the individual’s body
- Tools with springs that return to the open setting
- Grasping tools – that allow for grasping, retrieving
- Long handles cut-and-hold pruners
- Firm grip weed puller with a 2-3 foot handle
- Scissors with large openings
- Reinforced rubber hoses that resist kinking, extension hoses (brass snap connectors at every connection point), wall-mounted hose reels
- Garden carts or four-wheeled wagon instead of wheel barrows
- Garden aprons or tool belts to move things around while in the garden
- A lap board to transport tools, plants etc.
Looking for funding to make your garden more accessible? Check out the Enabling Accessibility Fund.