Multigenerational Gardening

Creating a garden for several generations to enjoy has many benefits. Children can get to know and appreciate the experiences and expertise of their elders while developing patience, self-esteem and gardening knowledge. Adults can get to know the youngsters in their lives better and perhaps be reminded of experience from their own childhoods.

Designing a multigenerational garden can be challenging. The older and younger members of your family may have very different needs. Creating adaptations to enable senior citizens to garden more easily, for example raising beds to waist height, may make the tasks more difficult for children.

With some planning and creative design, you can create a garden space that enables several generations to work together.

Designing for Senior Citizens

Limited mobility, decreased fine motor control and impaired eye sight are some of the most common conditions that may make tasks difficult or painful for the older gardener. Wide, slip-resistant paths can make maneuvering through the garden with a wheelchair or walker safer. Benches and railings can also help make kneeling and rising safer.

Tools with padded handles are often easier to grip. Adaptive tools with wide or braced handles are also available. Gardeners with poor vision, back pain or knee problems can often benefit from using raised beds.

Designing for Children

Appropriately sized tools are an important addition to any garden where children will be working. Opting for durable metal tools instead of toys will make gardening less frustrating for the younger members involved in a multigenerational garden.

In addition, establishing a clear definition between walkways and garden beds will keep little feet from stepping on fragile plants.

Wagons can be a great equalizer for children who might lack the upper body strength for certain gardening tasks. With a cart and a well-kept path, young gardeners will be able to tote watering cans, tools and potted plants to where they are needed. Make sure to provide kid-sized work gloves to help prevent calluses and hand injuries.

An Area for Everyone

To allow family members of all ages, sizes and abilities to work together in one area, special adaptations may be necessary. Consider building or purchasing stepstools so children can access higher raised beds.

Enabling multiple people of different ages and abilities to care for a container garden, hang baskets from pulleys so that they can be raised or lowered as needed. Make sure that the materials used are strong enough to support the full, wet planter.

Growing vines up hinged trellises will allow gardeners of all sizes to harvest vegetables while standing or sitting.

Getting Everyone Involved

To keep multigenerational gardening a fun experience, schedule frequent short work sessions and allow time for breaks. To encourage a sense of accomplishment, establish a definite end to the session. Most children will be more proud of weeding the entire bean patch or watering all the flowers than of “working in the garden for an hour.”

Letting all gardeners have a say in what is planted and how the harvest is used will help keep everyone involved and excited. Treating the garden as a shared responsibility will help foster cooperation and teamwork among family members, but many children and adults will take special pride in a bed or container that is completely theirs.

With some planning and care, a multigenerational garden can be adapted to enable participants of different ages and abilities. Allowing different generations to garden together can nurture a lifetime of memories.