One of the disadvantages of being wheelchair bound is the inability to bend down to reach the ground easily. Growing and harvesting their own fruit can be an even greater challenge for people in this position. The creative use of garden pots and pergolas will allow you to enable a wheelchair bound person to experience this pleasure, as the fruit is brought within their reach
Choosing the fruits
There are a number of fruits that grow on vines, such as granadillas, grapes and kiwi fruit, which need a structure like a pergola to grow on. If you construct a few mini pergolas and plant fruit vines next to these, then someone who is wheelchair bound will be able to reach the plants and to enjoy growing and eating their home grown fruit.
Constructing the mini pergolas
The mini pergolas should be one metre high, so that it is easy to reach the fruit on top while sitting in a wheelchair. They should be about one metre wide, which will ensure that the person in the wheelchair will be able to reach the fruit in the centre from either side.
You may be tempted to have the mini pergola as one long, running structure, but this may complicate the growing of the different fruits and also easy access to the plants. It will be more effective to have three or more different mini-pergolas with easy wheelchair access around each. The length of each pergola will depend on the number that you construct and the size of the property. Do not make them longer than about two/three metres, though, so that there is space to construct a wheelchair friendly path all the way around and so that you will be able to fit a few mini pergolas in the space you have available.
Planting the vines
One type of plant should be planted to grow on each mini-pergola. The young plants should be planted in strategically placed garden pots so that they are high enough for the wheelchair bound person to tend to them when they are small. Make sure that you follow the recommendations about placement of the plants and the preferred growing conditions. Kiwi fruit vines, for example, need a lot of space to grow, so it may be advisable to plan to have only one vine on the mini-pergola. Grapes or a granadilla vines will make different demands on space and you should be able to plant two or more vines on each mini-pergola.
Share29 June 2016
Hello. My name is Dean and this is my home and garden blog. Last year, I decided I needed to improve the look of my home. I visited several home and garden centres and various different shops but I just couldn't find the items I wanted. I had this dream of creating a really cool and funky look based on an African design I had seen. My friend suggested that I customise the items to create the look I wanted and began to give me some lessons. I really enjoyed the process and I learnt a lot about how to improve your home and garden.