Accessible Gardening…

This bleak winter will not last forever!  As Spring edges ever closer, we look to our outdoor spaces and reflect on the many benefits they bring as well as the importance of making them accessible to all.

There have been many studies that highlight the many benefits of accessible gardening.  This means that a garden, and gardening, is designed in such a way as to not form barriers to those with a wish to garden or to touch and enjoy the many sensory delights that a garden can yield.

Our homes each have large and varied gardens:

Apple House has one hundred feet of lawn, of blooms and fruit trees that produce apples for baking.

Summerwood has developed its sensory garden which is one of two quite distinct gardens private to the home, the second being more conventional with a hen house and free ranging chickens, a lawn and flower beds and a place to sit and relax, to just be.

At Redcroft, the garden is vast, again with chickens and now guinea pigs, with many trees offering leafy shade, and now with raised beds planted with vegetables.  Hand built to our specifications, these facilitate access by wheelchair users, at a useful height, with level access.

The satisfaction of choosing, planting and nurturing one’s own plants can be a special experience.  To harvest vegetables and to prepare and cook them is even better! –– Jane Montrose, Managing Director