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NCHPAD - Building Healthy Inclusive Communities

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Adapt the Plants - 1


Potted flowers in various colors planted various height containers.
A home enabling garden of varying height containers on a wood deck loaded with colors and textures.
Once the garden is set up for access, the gardener can focus attention on making good plant selections from among the thousands of plants available today. Frankly, this is the easy part, because the better plants are fairly forgiving and will thrive with the right growing conditions and reasonable care. Deciding what plants to grow will involve a combination of factors, including climate, local growing conditions, and available space, along with the abilities and interests of the gardeners.

Both Visually and tactilely fuzzy textured ornamental grass flower head moving with the slightest breeze.
Both visually and tactilely fuzzy textured ornamental grass flower heads moving with the slightest breeze.
Some of the best places to begin learning about gardening are free seed and plant catalogs and websites or any of hundreds of gardening magazines, books, and videos that are full of ideas and growing tips. Visit local public botanic gardens and parks for ideas and another reason to enjoy the outdoors. Botanic gardens and arboreta usually have extensive collections of planters in the larger sizes used in a home enabling garden with interesting and/or unusual plant combinations, along with identifying labels. These institutions, along with university cooperative extension services, typically have classes taught by experts, libraries, and printed information on almost any gardening topic. Experienced gardeners are always willing to share their experiences and an extra plant or two, as well.

Yellow and orange flowers
Vivid yellow and orange flowers are easier to see for those with impaired vision than soft pastel colors.
Beginners should start with annuals or plants that complete their life cycle in one growing season. Annuals present the greatest variety and allow a garden to change from year to year. This big group includes most vegetables, herbs, and flowers and is readily available from seed and plant catalogs, on the web or any garden center. Many vegetables, such as beans and radishes, are best grown from seeds planted directly into the garden. Some annual flowers, including sunflowers, four o'clocks, marigolds, and zinnias, are also fairly easy to grow from seed. Tomatoes and peppers are among examples of vegetables that a gardener often starts early indoors under lights, then plants outside once the weather warms up, shortening the time until harvest. Bear in mind that working with tiny seeds is difficult, so, if necessary, stick to larger seeds such as beans or purchase pelleted seed that places small seeds in a small ball of clay or paper that is easier to see and handle and that dissolves readily once planted. Seed tapes are also available that place seeds at the correct spacing between two layers of paper, requiring the gardener to simply cover it with soil at the proper depth. Both methods are very helpful to those with impaired dexterity and low/no vision.

Tomato plants 24 inches high
A mature home grown tomato plant loaded with ripe fruit destined for a BLT.
Easiest for beginners, though, are small inexpensive packs of transplants such as tomatoes, peppers, petunias, begonias, and marigolds along with hundreds more found at garden centers. They will begin flowering/fruiting sooner and will be among the most reliable varieties available. Their larger size also makes them easier to work with than seeds. It's fun to visit garden centers and mix and match different varieties for that perfect combination. Try to make a scheduled visit on a less busy day that will allow one of the staff experts to spend some time and help guide choices based on the growing conditions and interests of the gardener.

When putting together a list of plants, consider some of the following qualities:

  • Pest and disease resistance without use of chemicals.
  • Reasonably tough and not so fussy that a missed watering spells trouble.
  • Adaptable to local climate and growing conditions; for example, sun vs. shade, temperature extremes, low/high humidity, etc.
  • Put those with similar watering requirements in the same planter.
  • If choosing vegetables, try bush or dwarf varieties ideal for smaller spaces and containers.
  • Use bright, bold, contrasting colors in gardens tended by those with impaired vision.
  • In large planters and raised beds, use shorter varieties (18 to 30 inches maximum depending on a sitting or standing gardener) that will not grow out of reach. Taller varieties of tomatoes, for example, should be grown in ground-level beds on stakes or cages that will ultimately present their harvest within reach.
  • Heavy producers of vegetables or flowers over a long season.
  • Shorter and/or trailing plants to the front and edges with larger plants to the center and rear of plantings.
  • Try using more plants with interesting or colored foliage such as coleus, dusty miller, or scented geraniums alone or combined with flowering plants.
  • Mix vegetable and flowering plants for interest and extra production. Many vegetables are quite attractive.
  • Make the most of the growing season by trying some cold-tolerant plants early in the season. These include pansies, cabbage, or lettuce that can take late frosts. Follow them with warm-season plants, including tomatoes and petunias that thrive during the summer. Liven up the fall garden with a repeat of some of the cold-tolerant flowers and vegetables used in the spring, along with mums from the garden center.
  • In addition to looking good in the garden, consider the many plants that produce useful materials such as fresh or dried materials for table arrangements and other craft projects, herbs for recipes, etc.
  • Abilities to attract birds and butterflies.

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