by Jim Black
OSU Hood River County Extension Central Gorge Master Gardener volunteer
One of our new friends has used a wheelchair for years and manages well with it, thanks largely to his incredible wife and his own positive, can-do attitude.
When we’re at their barrier-free home, it’s easy to forget he uses a wheelchair, but when we invited them to our home, we realized that dinner would need to be outside on concrete—the only area that had no steps. Potential rain, wind, and excessively hot afternoons in August were also out as dates. Plus, as winter would soon approach, we knew entertaining them would be out altogether for months.
The realization that our house and garden are such handicaps to many brought home how impossible our place would be for either of us should we have a temporary or permanent disability.
We’re in our seventies. We know calamity happens. But we are still physically and financially able to fix what we can now see is broken. I suggest that you, too, examine your own homes and gardens for the obstacles for anyone who has a mobility issue: it could be you.
Is there parking near the entrance to your home that is wide and level enough to accommodate a person in a wheelchair? Is the walkway to the house obstacle free and wide and reasonably level? Are there steps required, and if so is there a handrail? Can you construct a ramp that eliminates a stair entry, yet does not detract from the appearance of your home?
Inside, can furniture be moved to accommodate a wheelchair, including access to a restroom on the main floor?
There are hundreds of internet sites that can help you evaluate what you have, and what can be done to make your home accessible.
You, too, can re-imagine your garden and make changes that give beauty and character to your landscape while accommodating people with limited mobility. These adaptations should include walkways that follow ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) guidelines, and include raised beds for hands-on access when seated.
Consider your garden an extension of your home. Do you have a seating area that is wheelchair accessible? Is the pathway to it solid enough for someone using a walker or a cane?
If you enjoy vegetable gardening now, you likely would regret giving it up should you become unable to kneel, so add raised beds near an accessible entry to your house. A raised vegetable bed can be simple or elaborate depending on your tastes, but likely needs a minimum of eight inches of soil depth.
There are attractive raised beds available in garden centers that have room for a chair under them, or, if you have the resources, you can design and build your own. To prevent the soil leaching into and rotting the wood, line the bed with a rubber mat available through many roofing retailers and include a simple drain. And equip it with microtubing that is connected to your irrigation system. The more you automate, the less you are dependent on others.
The sidebar on Stone Tables introduces a beautiful raised bed for creating a visual highlight for both recreational pleasure and accessible gardening. Group your raised beds, and presto, you have an exciting gathering spot for family and friends.
Yakima stone artist and gardener, Ron Sell, has successfully merged his two interests by creating stone tables and sculptures within his four acres of spectacular landscape. Those stones now make up the many trails, patios, and art works that add so much to the garden.
Four stone tables are showcased in Ron’s garden, two near entrances to his home, and two in more remote sections where visitors discover them unexpectedly. A Hosta may blend in the background when planted amongst flashier flowers in the beds, but it can be the star attraction on one of his tables. And a delicate moss or orchid may be seen up close for the first time. His stone tables make the ‘overlooked and the delicate’ the stars of the garden.
With a little help from a strong friend, you can build one for your own landscape. (Or you can use lighter-weight wood or even an old wheelbarrow as a table, though they won’t have the permanence of stone.)
Ron recommends using limestone or sandstone for the legs, which he sets in concrete to make his plant tables sturdy. The leg tops are set so that they are level with one another. The table tops are made of either two-inch-thick white Wilkinson Sandstone or red-toned Arizona Rose Flagstone. Their lighter weight and even thicknesses make his job easier. He is careful to keep all edges of the tabletop and legs natural looking without visible saw marks, and they are secured in place by their own weight.
Unlike the majority of rock in his garden and artworks, stones for his tables are purchased from commercial stone suppliers. Be sure to have at lease one high enough to allow a chair to nest underneath.
For readers who would like to build their own plant tables, Ron lists the following tips:
- Use a carpenter’s level to insure that legs are the same height and are level with one another.
- If you wish to irrigate your creation with drip irrigation (recommended), drill a hole through the table top big enough to insert micro tubing. Drill it where a leg will obscure it if possible.
- Once the top is in place, arrange weathered branches or roots and interesting stones in a pleasing pattern.
- Fill in around the stones and wood branches with a purchased, high quality potting mix. Do not use soil from your garden as it will likely not have enough organic matter to retain moisture and will surely have weed seeds.
- The next step is to weave a micro drip hose through the soil and connect it to the micro tubing coming from the hole in the table top. Be careful to not kink your line.
- Now the real fun begins. Ron selects his plant species carefully, using unusual dwarf plants that are difficult to appreciate if not planted closer to eye level. Some specimens can be found at the better nurseries in the valley, while the Internet may be required to find the perfect rare plant that inspires you. And if you spot a new specimen plant you want to show off, it’s a snap: no stooping or crawling about required.
Some examples used by Ron include dwarf Hostas, Saxifrage, conifers, hens and chicks, ice plants, ferns, and tiny perennials. Ron does not use annuals in his tables. The perennials give them a look of aged permanence and seldom need to be replaced.
If you chose to use drip irrigation, watering will be done automatically. If not, be sure your overhead irrigation adequately covers the table and is a fine mist that does not dislodge your soil. Because the soil is shallow, plants need to be drought tolerant and will likely need more frequent watering than typical.
Once you’ve finished the rewarding steps above, you are pretty much done forever. If a weed seed has blown in, you simply pull it when you walk by. If a flower is spent, remove it. If you want to fuss with your plants, consider planting a Rock Juniper, Kwanzan Cherry, or Wisteria and shaping it over time to be your own dazzling Bonsai. Or in the right setting include an orchid in an obscure pot that can be brought indoors during the winter.
Your new accessible tables of art will become a focus of your garden, guaranteed.
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