I'm a little frustrated that no one has commented. I personally am not disabled, but I'm raising two children who are. It would be great if the disabled population of this online community would provide a bit of helpful feedback on this topic.

It's been my experience (within the realm of education) that parents of children with special needs rarely network the way other parent subgroups do (band parents, football parents, GT parents and so on). Because of that, we don't share info, we don't support each other, etc. It seems so ironic that a group that stands to benefit so much from one another's experiences shares information the least.

I'm willing to bear my portion of the blame on that. I shut people out b/c I'm already overloaded with my own issues and don't have any energy left for someone elses. But I'm asking y'all a pretty basic question, and the entire forum has been silent on this for 3 weeks. What gives?

~ Amy

Hi Amy,
I don't have any personal experience with disabilities but I do have a product that might make your backyard more accessible to your children. We sell a liquid polyurethane that is used to pour over loose gravel to create natural looking and ADA compliant pathways. If it does sound like something you might be interested in I ask that you check out our web site. http://www.klingstonepaths.com

I hope you get more info out of these blogs. I am surprised by the lack of posts too. Geez

Here is a link that might be useful: Klingstone Paths

I'm wheelchair bound, and use a power chair. After getting stuck in the yard numerous times I added a large deck and do most of my gardening there. But, I do miss the yard!

Grass is ok if it is dry, but wet grass is very slippery.
Mud and sand are, of course, problems.
Gravel works very nicely. So do wood chips (had half the trees in my back yard cut so my deck would get light).

My cement walk is a breeze. If done right, I'd think pavers would work well.

Kudos for wantiong tp get the kids gardening. Wish the world had more mothers like you.

You don't say how old your children are, or if they can maneuver their wheelchairs by themselves.

I'm suspecting that you don't have a lot of spare money. You might contact some landscaping supply companies, the ones who sell the bulk bark, soil, sand, rock, etc. Tell them what you want to do, and ask about their rock that is about 1.25" in diameter (chunk, not round). A friend of mine used this stuff to make her driveway. The main problem I see with it for your purposes is that it would have to be tamped down to lock together and lie flat. (My friend just drove her truck back and forth over it.) This rock in WA State is $14/cubic yard.

I am thinking that if the soil where this path would go was loosened about 3" deep, and the rocks laid down, and then tamped down, they might set quite smoothly.

If this seems like a viable idea, you might contact your local Boy Scout group, and ask if they would be able to help you do the labor (the boys could get merit badges). And it's going to be hard labor, as that stuff sure isn't light!

One thing I would want to warn you about is not to use anything much smaller than the 1.25" rock, and it MUST have flat, chunky sides. The smaller it is, the more is likely to shift or sink into the soil/mud in winter.

I hope you can find a solution to your problem.

Sue

Amy, I'm sorry I haven't been around here in a long time. No, I never tried the grass grids and am not sure where to find them. I would start by calling landscaping companies. I am going to put them in my next house.

We put stone walks in here & it was a big mistake, They are much too rough. We also have some decks, one is wood and one is a Trex like one. Not having done a Trex one before, my dh made the spacing the same as the wood to allow for expansion and it's really too far apart for a wheelchair. Concrete is the best, but not possible for us in the areas we need it. Plain grass would probably be better than the stone walk, but we needed access in areas that get boggy for long times. The last thing we did was use the 16x16" concrete pavers from Walmart or Home Depot. Once leveled, they seem to stay really flat & tight to each other, are reasonably priced and I can pick one up by myself, at least for now.

I googled 'grass grids' and tons of companys sell them. Camping World also sells them, to place outside your camper stairs etc., if you have one near you. Other RV facilities may sell them as well.

MeMo

Off-topic, and no experience with this, but I wonder if having some veggies and herbs in taller containers along the path would be fun for your kids- tall enough that they can touch/smell/pick from their chairs? Hope it goes well :-)

Howdy ~

Took an internet hiatus for a while.

a) So far, the options I've explored are either too expensive or too labor-intensive. Two months ago, I was diagnosed with osteopenia & a compressed lumbar disk, so I'm having to limit my heavy work so that I can lift the kids when I need to. The materials that I could possibly manage, in terms of budget and logistics, are poor candidates: gravel, mulch, etc.

b) There's also the issue of resale value. We're certain this isn't our "forever house", so we'll eventually need to sell the house. Not sure a path to nowhere (nowhere, as in it won't be going to a jacuzzi or "outdoor living area") will be marketable down the road.

c) The kids are 10, severely low-functioning, and completely dependent. So any time they're outside, they'll be pushed & then won't be left alone either. Their outdoor experiences will be sensory rather than functional - they won't actually be "gardening." One of them mouths everything, so we'll be keeping his hands away from anything that shouldn't go into his mouth, which is almost everything outside.

d) They both sort of wilt in the heat, but they also both love fresh air, wind, and outdoor sounds. My sole objective is a way to get them from the patio to the opposite corner of the backyard (about 15yds - typical small suburban yard) so they can enjoy another part of the yard during comfortable weather.

~ freshair

Hi Freshair,
I am very new to these forums (about 30 minutes old, lol) and I came across your post. I am the Mom of a 6 year old daughter who has special needs (physical & chronic illness), and was looking for any ideas anyone had on making our new back yard as accessible as possible. Have you thought about possibly putting in a contained texture garden? My oldest daughter made one last spring with her garden club and it was wonderful.

Just adding a URL for a site I ran across tonight while doing something else. It has a lot of links that might be useful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening For People With Physical Disabilities

tropic.dreams, thanks for the post, have added to my gardening bookmark. As for the first post she needs to talk to her extension agent as well as her Church membership as both may be able to be of help in providing information as well as help. Even some Cities and local BBB's, Elks, Masons etc. There has to be someone in her local area that will help with special needs in solving their special problems.
Paul :)

Agree with Wally above - if you have involvement with a church, their groups (in our case the Knights of Columbus) have been a wonderful resource for us in terms of getting help with this type of thing. DH is power wheelchair-bound and they have been tremendous in helping us get our landscape cleaned up and some basic accessibility challenges met in & out of the house. Through groups like this, where members have various talents & backgrounds, you may very well find someone who is more than willing to donate their services to create what you envision.

I hope you find some solutions that provide a safe yet interesting outdoor environment for your children to enjoy.

if you tried to find the article listed below:
From: lcaplan@purdue.edu

A hundred apologies! Purdue recently upgraded our web page servers, and in the course of their "improvements," changed all of the URLs for our pages. I have re-uploaded the horticulture information I had, and the links work if you go from the Vanderburgh County home page (see below), but alas, there are so many people out there who have linked to my site that I just donÂt know about, I have no way of getting the word out.

Here is the direct link to my "Links" page: http://www.ag.purdue.edu/counties/vanderburgh/Pages/HorticultureLinks.aspx . You should see the link for "Gardening for People With Physical Disabilities" near the top. As far as I know, all of the sub-links should work.

Please let me know if I can be of any further help.