From my Garden, Summer 2006
 

Handicapped Gardening 

Growing Roses was my relaxation, escape from the stresses of life and my exercise. Whether hot or cold, I never noticed the temperature in my own little world of rose gardening.

You can imagine my thoughts when I suffered a major debilitating stroke in March of 2002 which left my left side all but useless.

While in rehab right after the stroke, seven miniature rose bushes, ordered the previous fall, arrived in the mail.

I asked my wife to bring them, pots, potting soil, and a trowel to the hospital where I proceeded to pot them up. The therapists wrote it down as rehab and were enthusiastic that I still maintained an interest in my hobby.

I learned to walk again, but had little stability, especially on lawns and other rough surfaces. I couldn’t walk up or down a sloped surface.

My son talked me into buying a Rascal scooter to help me get around easier. As my strength improved, I began trying to do some gardening from the seat of my scooter. A friend made me a towing hitch so I could pull a small wagon behind me and I put a hitch adapter on my battery operated sprayer with a four foot wand to help reach into the rose beds.

A small basket on the front of the scooter provided a place to keep my pruners and other gardening tools. My pruners are kept in a holster clipped onto the basket and a small waste basket keeps all my trowels and other hand tools together and within reach.  I’ve made good use of a garden knife purchased from A.M. Leonard.  Many tools have been altered to make it easier to use from a sitting position. Wooden handles were shortened on my hoe and garden cultivator. I use an army surplus foxhole shovel to dig holes.

I located garden tools with handles I can extend to most any length that are comfortable for me from either a sitting or standing position.

A pair of Felco pruners with a cane holding attachment keeps cut canes from falling to the ground. (Needed if you only have one usable hand.)  If there is no tool that is made for my needs I make one if I can or ask a friend to fashion it for me. There is a basket attached to the back of the scooter which holds a tall kitchen garbage can where I keep the longer handled tools. I just reach behind me a grab what I need.

The swivel seat on the scooter puts me in the best position to dig holes, rake, and plant rose bushes.

I am determined to garden as near to the way I did before the stroke. If I can’t use my arm and leg, I use my head.    

I cut back the sizes of my beds and my roses from over 500 bushes to a more manageable 300. I had a watering system professionally installed to aid with watering chores.

The more I tried to do from the seat of my Rascal, the more I found I could do. After turning the Rascal over a few times, I found I was not made of china and still bounced. I also learned to be more careful

By cutting the beds down, I was able to access the rose bushes easier and even learned to dig holes to plant new roses and to transplant.  By planting the bushes no more than two wide I can access them from either side.

I ordered 100 bare root rosebushes each spring in 2003 and 2004 from the West coast and potted them in my greenhouse over a two week period.

Each time I attempted something new, I found out I could do a whole lot more than I thought I could so I kept trying to do more.

My yard gently slopes from the road down to my greenhouse and I wanted a level place to park my trailer to keep it from spoiling my wife’s view of our little pond and the birds who frequented it.

I had found that I could move a lot of material, one 5 gallon bucketful at a time, simply by sticking to it. I marked off an area next to the greenhouse, 10 feet wide by 24 feet long and proceeded to remove the soil by placing the filled bucket on the floor of the scooter, then taking it to a low spot in the yard, dumping it and spreading it out with a little rake. After 3 weeks, I had cleared that place next to the greenhouse, leveled the yard, and planted grass seed. I bought retaining wall blocks and built a wall to keep the slope from eroding into the dug out area.

With a gloved hand and patience you can pick up and place those retaining wall blocks, or, slide and maneuver them onto the floor of the scooter to carry where they are needed. I got a few smashed and bloodied fingers, toes and shins while moving the soil and retaining wall blocks but they healed and the pain was rewarded with the pride I had by doing it myself.     

During the process, I about wore out the scooter but I also found I was limited to what I could do only by my own fear.

My roses looked really good last season as I was able to keep them weeded, fertilized, and deadheaded while working from the scooter.

I’ve even been able to walk in the beds and use long handled rakes, hoes, and shovels. Although, I still have no use of my left arm or hand, I’ve learned to do what I could with my right arm. I’m really wobbly walking but I take the garbage cans out to the curb on pick up day and spend a lot of time in my greenhouse getting my hands dirty.

My right arm is getting very strong from picking up all those 5 gallon buckets of dirt.

I keep my 4X8 open trailer filled with horse manure, which I empty into those 5 gallon buckets to spread as mulch on my rose beds. When I empty one trailer I take it to get filled again. This is a never ending job. When all the rose beds have been mulched with 4 inches of the stuff, it’s time to start all over again. 

The point I’m trying to make here is:

A stroke or other debilitating ailment need not be the end of life as you knew it. By making a few adjustments, one can lead a near normal like and continue to do those things you enjoy.

I drive, drove to Florida five times, to Philadelphia and New Orleans for ARS Conventions, go shopping by myself, walked through Southlake Mall at Christmas doing my own shopping for the holidays, flew to Hawaii and had a heck of a time, and during a my wife’s recent illness, proved to her that I could cook, do dishes, and keep the house clean. Because I stay active I’ve maintained my weight.

Ones first thought when affected like this is to park your butt in front of the TV and become a couch potato. You’ll not only get fat, but shorten your life.

I realize not everyone who has a disabling illness can recover as much as I have but you are only limited by your own desire to improve. It’s easy to sit back and not try and it takes a certain determination and hard work, plus a few bumps and bruises to improve. If you don’t try, it can’t happen. 

Remember, don’t sweat the small stuff.      

Happy rose growing

I’m available to answer rose growing questions via the internet at rosenut@rosenut.com or visit my website at www.rosenut.com , or you can come by my home most anytime for hands on rose growing tips and advice.

Have Questions?  Write to:  rosenut@rosenut.com