Growing Together: Open Forum

Hey, community! After much prep (social/community and physical!), we're ready to begin our "interactive garden" planning at our elementary school. In gaining buy-in from the school district, I promised that we would minimize annuals and focus on perennial plantings as the foundation for the garden space and that it would be a  no-till garden space. We're going to make it curvy and reminiscent of a cottage garden - rather informal and with native edibles mixed-in (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, sunchokes, etc.). So think- no rectangular raised beds or straight paths. Lots of deep-rooted plants that won't do well in raised beds that are off the ground.

My question is: Does anyone have experience designing and/or creating wheelchair-accessible garden beds in this kind of situation? I've seen wooden or plastic raised beds that are kind of squared-off U shapes that folks can roll right up to and we can build something like that if we need to. But quite honestly, I don't want children or family/community members in wheelchairs to feel like they get this one "separate" thing, you know (and that the plants in there are very different than the rest of the garden). I'd love to figure out ways to design all or most of the beds in a curved-bed, cottage-ey style that are also wheelchair accessible so that the garden is a place for shared experiences in nature.  

Thanks for any and all suggestions, links, photos of examples, etc.! We want everyone to feel welcome and included in the entire garden (and our paths will be accessible for sure!).

Hey, community! After much prep (social/community and physical!), we're ready to begin our "interactive garden" planning at our elementary school. In gaining buy-in from the school district, I promised that we would minimize annuals and focus on perennial plantings as the foundation for the garden space and that it would be a  no-till garden space. We're going to make it curvy and reminiscent of a cottage garden - rather informal and with native edibles mixed-in (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, sunchokes, etc.). So think- no rectangular raised beds or straight paths. Lots of deep-rooted plants that won't do well in raised beds that are off the ground.

My question is: Does anyone have experience designing and/or creating wheelchair-accessible garden beds in this kind of situation? I've seen wooden or plastic raised beds that are kind of squared-off U shapes that folks can roll right up to and we can build something like that if we need to. But quite honestly, I don't want children or family/community members in wheelchairs to feel like they get this one "separate" thing, you know (and that the plants in there are very different than the rest of the garden). I'd love to figure out ways to design all or most of the beds in a curved-bed, cottage-ey style that are also wheelchair accessible so that the garden is a place for shared experiences in nature.  

Thanks for any and all suggestions, links, photos of examples, etc.! We want everyone to feel welcome and included in the entire garden (and our paths will be accessible for sure!).

Hey, community! After much prep (social/community and physical!), we're ready to begin our "interactive garden" planning at our elementary school. In gaining buy-in from the school district, I promised that we would minimize annuals and focus on perennial plantings as the foundation for the garden space and that it would be a  no-till garden space. We're going to make it curvy and reminiscent of a cottage garden - rather informal and with native edibles mixed-in (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, sunchokes, etc.). So think- no rectangular raised beds or straight paths. Lots of deep-rooted plants that won't do well in raised beds that are off the ground.

My question is: Does anyone have experience designing and/or creating wheelchair-accessible garden beds in this kind of situation? I've seen wooden or plastic raised beds that are kind of squared-off U shapes that folks can roll right up to and we can build something like that if we need to. But quite honestly, I don't want children or family/community members in wheelchairs to feel like they get this one "separate" thing, you know (and that the plants in there are very different than the rest of the garden). I'd love to figure out ways to design all or most of the beds in a curved-bed, cottage-ey style that are also wheelchair accessible so that the garden is a place for shared experiences in nature.  

Thanks for any and all suggestions, links, photos of examples, etc.! We want everyone to feel welcome and included in the entire garden (and our paths will be accessible for sure!).

Hanging pots can be utilized by all and might be a fun thing to use...

Hey, community! After much prep (social/community and physical!), we're ready to begin our "interactive garden" planning at our elementary school. In gaining buy-in from the school district, I promised that we would minimize annuals and focus on perennial plantings as the foundation for the garden space and that it would be a  no-till garden space. We're going to make it curvy and reminiscent of a cottage garden - rather informal and with native edibles mixed-in (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, sunchokes, etc.). So think- no rectangular raised beds or straight paths. Lots of deep-rooted plants that won't do well in raised beds that are off the ground.

My question is: Does anyone have experience designing and/or creating wheelchair-accessible garden beds in this kind of situation? I've seen wooden or plastic raised beds that are kind of squared-off U shapes that folks can roll right up to and we can build something like that if we need to. But quite honestly, I don't want children or family/community members in wheelchairs to feel like they get this one "separate" thing, you know (and that the plants in there are very different than the rest of the garden). I'd love to figure out ways to design all or most of the beds in a curved-bed, cottage-ey style that are also wheelchair accessible so that the garden is a place for shared experiences in nature.  

Thanks for any and all suggestions, links, photos of examples, etc.! We want everyone to feel welcome and included in the entire garden (and our paths will be accessible for sure!).

Hanging pots can be utilized by all and might be a fun thing to use...

Hey, community! After much prep (social/community and physical!), we're ready to begin our "interactive garden" planning at our elementary school. In gaining buy-in from the school district, I promised that we would minimize annuals and focus on perennial plantings as the foundation for the garden space and that it would be a  no-till garden space. We're going to make it curvy and reminiscent of a cottage garden - rather informal and with native edibles mixed-in (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, sunchokes, etc.). So think- no rectangular raised beds or straight paths. Lots of deep-rooted plants that won't do well in raised beds that are off the ground.

My question is: Does anyone have experience designing and/or creating wheelchair-accessible garden beds in this kind of situation? I've seen wooden or plastic raised beds that are kind of squared-off U shapes that folks can roll right up to and we can build something like that if we need to. But quite honestly, I don't want children or family/community members in wheelchairs to feel like they get this one "separate" thing, you know (and that the plants in there are very different than the rest of the garden). I'd love to figure out ways to design all or most of the beds in a curved-bed, cottage-ey style that are also wheelchair accessible so that the garden is a place for shared experiences in nature.  

Thanks for any and all suggestions, links, photos of examples, etc.! We want everyone to feel welcome and included in the entire garden (and our paths will be accessible for sure!).

Hey, community! After much prep (social/community and physical!), we're ready to begin our "interactive garden" planning at our elementary school. In gaining buy-in from the school district, I promised that we would minimize annuals and focus on perennial plantings as the foundation for the garden space and that it would be a  no-till garden space. We're going to make it curvy and reminiscent of a cottage garden - rather informal and with native edibles mixed-in (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, sunchokes, etc.). So think- no rectangular raised beds or straight paths. Lots of deep-rooted plants that won't do well in raised beds that are off the ground.

My question is: Does anyone have experience designing and/or creating wheelchair-accessible garden beds in this kind of situation? I've seen wooden or plastic raised beds that are kind of squared-off U shapes that folks can roll right up to and we can build something like that if we need to. But quite honestly, I don't want children or family/community members in wheelchairs to feel like they get this one "separate" thing, you know (and that the plants in there are very different than the rest of the garden). I'd love to figure out ways to design all or most of the beds in a curved-bed, cottage-ey style that are also wheelchair accessible so that the garden is a place for shared experiences in nature.  

Thanks for any and all suggestions, links, photos of examples, etc.! We want everyone to feel welcome and included in the entire garden (and our paths will be accessible for sure!).