web site updated
March 2006
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All original material is copyrighted to Alison Marsden, Gardening by Design 2003-6. It may be used by clients for the benefit of their own garden but for no other purpose

Special People

Gardens friendly for disabled, elderly and young people

Some people have particular needs to be incorporated into their garden but the result can be equally as beautiful as any other.  There need be nothing in the garden to ‘point it out’ as an adapted garden.  All it takes is a little time spent at the beginning to make sure that the garden you create is designed to be user-friendly and practical for the people who will use it.

Many features sometimes described as being specific to disabled people, the elderly or children are simply practicalities that can make life easier for all gardeners and need not be utilitarian items that detract from the beauty of the garden. We often think of ramps as being purely for wheelchairs but why struggle to carry a lawnmower  or bicycle or a baby-buggy up and down steps? How much better to include an attractive ramp for all these things? 

Plants with textured foliage are very useful in a garden used by blind or partially sighted people because they can use touch to appreciate the feathery softness of foliage and listen to the wind rustling the stiff stems of a grass.. But shouldn’t we all be using all our senses in the garden?  Why should texture make this garden ‘different’?

The golden rule for gardening is that everything in the garden should be attractive and this equally applies to those items that make the garden a safe and enjoyable space for anyone with a special need. If you need a handrail on steps, then have a balustrade that matches the style and materials of the garden. If you need a ramp, use attractive paving instead of metres of concrete.

Of course, it is simpler to start from scratch with a new plot but it is by no means impossible to improve the friendliness of a mature garden. A survey may be helpful before you start and extra work may be needed, for example to make existing paths wheelchair width or to remove plants unsuitable for children.