Garden in Your 90s

“I can’t hold them back sometimes,” says physiotherapist Nancy Durrant as she tells us about the garden at the long-term care home where she works.

The residents she’s talking about are mainly in their 90s. And the vegetables and herbs they grow and harvest become part of the menu at this Toronto long-term care home.

An avid gardener herself, Durant says the home had nice grounds previously…but she saw the space and imagined a garden. The management agreed with her idea of a garden, and two years ago, Durrant, with the help of staff members who built raised beds, set out with a core group of residents to garden.

She points out that gardens are an excellent fit for what she does as a physiotherapist because gardening is exercise. It’s good for the body, and good for the mind.

Growing Interest

There is a core group of residents who, along with staff, run the garden. Durrant says other residents take part, especially with harvest.

Along with vegetables, they grow a number of herbs. “We have a few herbs which I think is really good because it hits more senses,” says Durrant.

There are a number of ways they grow interest in the garden:

• Grow plants from seed. They grow all all of their plants themselves, from seed. Some are started indoors; some are sown directly in the garden.
• Weigh the harvest. Last year they harvest 178 pounds of food. Durrant points out that while this might not sound like a lot, they grow a lot of herbs, which weigh very little.
• Grow unusual plants with a story. They focus on heirloom varieties, and put up posters with the story behind the heirloom varieties.
• Document progress. Time-lapse photo displays document the progress of the garden.
• Save seeds. Residents save seeds from heirloom varieties for the following year, and to share with the community.
• Eat what you grow. Produce from the garden is used in meals at the home, with home-grown ingredients highlighted to residents.
• Giving back to the community. Donating harvest to a food bank is a way residents can contribute to the community.

Age-Appropriate Garden Tips

Durant says that the gardens are a combination of in-ground plots, raised beds, and containers. The desk-height raised beds make it possible for gardeners with differing physical abilities to take part.

• Break up the work into small windows, 1 hour maximum.
• For gardeners with arthritic hands, modify tools by adding large grips.
• Select long-handled tools to minimize the need to bend.
• Select shovels with a small blade to reduce the weight lifted.

Find a Way

Durrant says that there are ways to help those with disabilities continue to garden.

She gives the example of a resident who recently had a heart attack, but who can still cut herbs in the raised beds, and can drops bean seeds into a pre-dug trench.