Gardening Tips for People Who Are Visually Impaired

If you are visually impaired and wondering how you will continue to maintain a garden or even begin a garden, here are some tips for you provided by our friends at VisionAware. You will be surprised to learn that there are a number of things you can do to simplify the process and ensure that your flowers and plants will abundantly flourish. You will also be surprised at how much enjoyment you will get in return for your adaptive techniques:

• Use Colorful and Tactual Borders:
  You can use different kinds of edging products such as crushed stone, bricks, pavers, pieces of lumber, or fencing to separate areas. Paint your existing fencing or stones in contrasting colors that will show up against the green grass. Use textured and/or colorful materials such as crushed white marble chips, natural wood chips, and crushing seashells. Old car tires can contain spreading plants like pumpkins and squash.
• Try Container Gardening:
  Consider container gardening or using raised plant beds. This will restrict the area you need to maintain, help create solid boundaries, and may even help with general lawn care.
• Choose Plants for their Sensory Qualities:
  Explore new plant varieties and focus on each plant’s sensory qualities. For example, in addition to planting Geraniums, also consider mint, lemon, lavender, a variety or roses, and other plants with different textures and scents.
• Create Your Own Plant and Row Markers:
  Create large print signs/labels with index cards and a wide-tip black marker. Laminate the cards or seal them in Ziploc sandwich bags. Attach each card to a small stick. Use brightly painted stones in different colors to indicate the type of flower or plant. For example, white stone for Daisies and red stone for tulips and tomatoes. Tie beads to craft sticks. For example, one bead for carrots, two beads for onions, three beads for lettuce. Yogurt cups with the bottoms removed can protect very young plants. Sink the cup halfway into the soil and plant inside it. It will outline the area in which your seedlings are growing and can also help with weed control. Lay down a fishing line or a cane and use it as a guide for planting straight rows. If you form rows by running strings between stakes, you can secure old tennis balls or another type of tactile reminder on the top of each stake for identification purposes.

• Use an egg carton as a planting spacer. Poke a 1 inch hole in the bottom of each egg portion and position the egg carton/spacer on the soil. Place one seed into each hole and cover with soil. Gently remove the spacer and continue planting.
• Look for garden tools with brightly colored handles that will contrast with the ground or with your plant bench. You can also apply contrasting tape or paint to the handles of your favorite tools or paint the tines of your rake to help with locating your tools and identifying your work area. A long-handled garden tool can also become a measuring stick by placing contrasting tape along the handle every six inches or whatever distance you need to measure.
• Grow fresh herbs or vegetables in large pots near your kitchen door.
• Consider using natural or organic fertilizers and pest control treatments, especially if you use your uncovered hands to feel your plants or tend to your garden.
• Use protective techniques to protect your face and eyes from injury when bending down in the garden.

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