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How Does Your Garden Grow?
If you enjoy nature and gardening is your passion, don't let vision loss get in the way. Here, find some helpful tips and resources:
- Set up a basic layout with straight and uniform garden beds; use a
cane as a guide for planting a straight row; or lay down two fishing
lines and plant seeds between them.
- Place a brightly colored strip down the center of any pathway for easier orientation or use texture like gravel or bark.
- Wear an apron with plenty of pockets or a utility belt to hold your gardening equipment.
- Try sensory gardening. Grow plants with distinguishable scents
or tactile clues that help you identify them easily. Good choices:
geraniums (mint, lemon, rose) and herbs (basil: broad leaf, thyme:
small leaf). Or consider plants with interesting textures like the
fuzzy leaves of an African violet or the large flowers of an amaryllis
plant. Grow lavender inside and enjoy the smell.
- Use large-print markers or tactual borders (container
gardening, for example) to help with plant identification and reduce
maintenance time.
- Place mulch or landscaping felt between plants and seedlings to help reduce the need for weeding.
- Paint garden tools, such as hoes and rakes, to make them
easier to see when you're using them. For example, white paint on the
tines of a hoe provides excellent contrast with soil.
- Place high-contrast borders around trees or flower beds to make these areas easy to identify when mowing the lawn.
- Use a guideline, such as the top of a fence, to help you trim hedges and bushes evenly.
Resources
Getting On With Gardening, edited by
Tim Spurgeon, contains advice and tips, details on making gardening
aids, tools information, garden planning and practical guidance for
people with vision impairments. Available in large print, braille,
cassette or disk from the Royal National Institute of the Blind. Cost: £3.00.
Thrive, a UK based organization, offers courses and a telephone advice line for people with vision loss at (0118) 988 6668. Publishes Come Gardening,
a quarterly magazine that contains articles and advice about gardening,
information about new products and reader inquiries. Available in
braille, cassette, computer disk or e-mail. Cost: ??5.00, annual
subscription.
Oregon State University Extension Service offers a variety of publications on adaptive gardening including Adaptive Gardening Techniques for the Visually Impaired, which is available free in print or online.
Kids Gardening
features all the ins and outs of growing plants - both indoors and
outdoors for children ages 4 - 12. Includes 25 gardening projects, free
seeds and shovel and helpful tips from a blind gardener. Available in a
large print/Braille edition in one volume from National Braille Press. Cost: $13.95.