For many people, time in the garden is restorative: a chance to be outside, to move at a natural pace, to feel the soil, and to reconnect with a sense of purpose.
But access to that experience can change. Aging, injury, arthritis, mobility limitations, chronic pain, or other physical challenges can make garden tasks harder than they once were.
Finding new ways to keep us growing.
Ergonomic and adaptive tools are one way to make gardening more accessible. Visitors can see examples on our ergonomic tool wall in the pavilion of the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses, where features like extended handles, lightweight materials, padded grips, and non-slip surfaces show how small design changes can reduce strain and make garden work more approachable.
These tools are reminders that gardening doesn’t have to look the same throughout a lifetime. As our needs change, the ways we garden can change too.
Gardening can change with us.
As Horticultural Therapist Garron Dorr, HTR, notes, accessibility is personal: the right tool depends on the person, the task, the space, and the kind of support that makes gardening feel possible again. Below are a few common features and adaptations that can make garden tools easier and more comfortable to use:
- Long or telescoping handles extend reach and reduce the need to bend or kneel.
- Lightweight materials can lessen fatigue during repetitive tasks.
- Brightly colored tools, besides being cheerful, are easier to spot among leaves, mulch, or garden beds and are especially helpful for those with low vision.
- Curved handles, padded grips, and non-slip surfaces can reduce pressure on hands, wrists, muscles, and joints.
- Simple modifications, such as adding foam to a pruner handle or attaching an auxiliary grip to a shovel, can make a world of difference.
(Left) Garron demonstrates the padded grips on a pair of pruners that lessons fatigue, fits resting hand shape and aids leverage. (Right) Garron prunes a tomato plant while seated in a garden scooter, one of his favorite adaptive tools, that lets you sit comfortably while planting and weeding, saving your knees, back, and joints.
Gardening supports for everyday tasks.
Different accessible gardening tools and adaptive garden features can support a wide range of gardening tasks and mobility needs.:
- Pruning and hand work: spring-loaded or ratcheting pruners require less force, while curved-handle trowels and cultivators support a more natural wrist position.
- Weeding and reaching: long-handled weeders, reachers, and extended-reach tools help gardeners work without unnecessary bending.
- Watering: lightweight hoses, coiled hoses, extended-reach watering wands, and easier-to-carry watering cans can make watering less tiring.
- Seating and support: rolling garden stools or scooters with swiveling seats can reduce strain on the knees and back while keeping gardeners close to the soil.
- Accessible garden design: raised planting beds, cutaways for wheelchairs, wide stable pathways, and trellises can bring plants within reach and make the garden easier to move through.
Continuing the benefits of gardening.
Our Horticultural Therapy program helps people explore comfortable, accessible ways to keep participating in meaningful garden work and to continue experiencing the benefits that come from being connected to plants and the outdoors.
Interested in exploring therapeutic horticulture for yourself, a loved one, or a group? Sessions at the Gardens are offered June through October, with winter sessions available at satellite locations.
To learn more or schedule a group, paired, or individual session, please contact Garron Dorr at GDorr@mainegardens.org
