The therapeutic effects of nurturing plants from seed to harvest or from transplant to bouquet can continue even after disease, age or injury leaves the gardener disabled.

In a demonstration project at the Garden of the Sun, 1944 N. Winery Ave., Fresno, University of California Master Gardeners have shown that, with a little creativity, gardening is a hobby for all ages and abilities.

"We want people to know they don't have to give up gardening," said Pam Elam, the UCCE environmental horticulture advisor and director of Garden of the Sun. "We're presenting ideas that can make gardening practical under any circumstances."

For those who cannot bend or kneel, the demonstration garden takes raised beds to new heights. A waist high, flat-bedded trough brings pepper plants within the gardener's reach. Heavy wood planks form a 10-by-4-foot, one-foot-deep planting bed on 4-foot-high stilts. Waterbed bumpers can cushion the edges for people who must lean for stability.

Harvesting berries or other produce from a trellis can be a challenge for gardeners who cannot stretch or stand. The Master Gardeners have devised a PVC trellis on hinges that flips down to table level. Ideally a pulley mechanism would lower the trellis.

"We've strung the trellis with cotton twine, so it can be easily cut off and the whole thing thrown into the compost heap after the fruit has been harvested," said Joyce Becker, the volunteer Master Gardener who leads the "No Barriers Garden" project.

When the Garden of the Sun was designed by the Master Gardeners in 1993, an area was designated to demonstrate gardening techniques for the disabled. It wasn't until the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources provided an affirmative action grant in 1997 that the area came under active development.

"We pulled together a committee," Becker said. "Everyone on the committee was gardening with some sort of diminished capacity. One member has a spinal injury, one a hearing disability, another an arthritic condition and another has recovered from stroke. We all had ideas and could contribute."

Beside allowing disabled people to continue a beloved hobby, the demonstration garden opens the door to the proven psychological benefits of working with plants and soil. Horticultural therapy is a professionally recognized process of using plants and gardening activities to improve social, educational, psychological and physical well being.

"Gardening gets you outside and active and provides a sense of satisfaction," Becker said. "With my arthritis, there are times I don't even want to get out of bed. But when I do get out and move around, then I start feeling better."

Choosing to garden is the necessary first step. "Then, no matter what, you can find a way," Becker said.

In the Garden of the Sun, a pulley lowers a basket of flowering plants down for watering, pruning and replanting. Three-foot-high terra cotta pots are accessible from wheel chairs. Narrow raised beds surrounded by bench seating allow disabled people to sit and avoid stretching while tending plants. Hard-packed dirt paths can be navigated by wheel chair, with a walker or cane.

"Our garden has a value in the information we can give to people," Becker said. "We hope these ideas will inspire disabled people to bring the delights and benefits of this hobby into their lives."

The Garden of the Sun is staffed by Master Gardeners on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children aged 3 to 12. For more information call the University of California Master Gardeners at (209) 456-7564.

The Garden is also accessible through the Discovery Center Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors and handicapped, and $2 for children aged 3 to 16.

Jeannette Warnert
Public Information Representative
UC Regional Office
550 E. Shaw Avenue
Fresno, CA 93710