The Enabling Garden: Creating Barrier-Free Gardens [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a personal account of horticultural therapy, or gardening with disabilities, by someone who shares his own firsthand experiences. Rothert, the manager of urban horticulture at the Chicago Botanic Garden and president of the American Horticultural Therapy Association, discusses gardening while one is seated, making raised beds and smooth paths, selecting appropriate plants and tools, and performing maintenance chores. This title covers some of the same ground as Able To Garden (LJ 7/91) and John Pierce and Roland Barnsley's Easy Lifelong Gardening (LJ 6/1/93) but contains more personal tips. Rothert includes lists of his favorite plants, organizations, enabling gardens, and sources for gardening supplies. Recommended for libraries that need additional material on the subject.
Laura Lipton, Miller Horticulture Lib., Seattle
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Rothert's concept of barrier-free gardening is directed at older gardeners and people with disabilities. He brings considerable expertise to bear on the subject as a horticultural therapist who manages the Chicago Botanic Garden's "Learning Garden for the Disabled" program. A basic checklist helps to assess abilities, then sound advice is offered for selecting tools, materials for pathways, and plants. Specific suggestions follow for adapting the garden with containers, raised beds, or vertical structures. Beginning gardeners will find the step-by-step approach most apt, with concise information on the design process--from analyzing the site to compiling a wish list for garden features. Garden maintenance is covered in brief, but lists provide additional sources for helpful counsel and plant selection. Alice Joyce

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing; 1 edition (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878338470
• ISBN-13: 978-0878338474
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #620,798 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let anything stop you from gardening, February 18, 1998

By A Customer

Buy two, at least. If you know a disabled, ill, or age-enriched gardener, this book is an absolutely perfect gift. If you garden, you'll want one book entirely for yourself, whether you're in perfect health and mobility or not. There are tips in here for garden design that you would never have thought about, and think about this: Can you show your garden to friends and acquaintances in wheelchairs, or is it closed off to them? Will you be able to move around in your own garden thirty years from now, or if you break your leg skiing? I savored the parts about attracting wildlife -- not pests, but butterflies and songbirds.