Designing Your Garden for Better Health
Written by Keppy Arnoldsen, Landscape Designer
When I think of gardening, I think of healthy things… fresh air, exercise, and great rewards like home-grown vegetables and flowers for the table. But for many of us, myself included, gardening can be a labor that causes pain and suffering. Yet there are things we can do in the design and planning of our gardens that will make our lives easier. I would like to share a short list of ideas that I have developed over the past few decades of landscape design that will help maximize your health and enhance your joy of gardening.
Structural Elements
Barrier-free design is important not only for the physically challenged, but for others as well. Easy, smooth access to areas of your garden will help prevent accidents and injuries.
Pathways should be wide enough so that two people could pass. Narrow pathways can cause us to bend and twist in ways we normally do not, so unless you practice yoga each week (another good idea) then it is best to allow adequate space for turning and working. When flower or vegetable beds are located along a pathway, we naturally choose to rest on the pathway to perform regular maintenance chores like weeding or mulching. Wide pathways are less cramped, more comfortable, and safer. Also keep in mind that nighttime pathway lighting is important for safe access through your yard.
Water access is extremely important. Water weight is deceivingly heavy. One gallon of water weighs 8 pounds, so a 2-gallon water bucket weighs 16 pounds! This may not sound like much, but when you carry a lot of these each week it can wear on your elbows, shoulders, and back and can aggravate painful conditions, such as tendonitis (also known as carpenter’s or tennis elbow). The healthy approach to watering is to have easy access to water at sites that need regular watering. Install outside hose bibs or drip irrigation, use soaker hoses, or plant with drought-tolerant plants to alleviate the burden of watering.
Stairs and inclines are the hardest on knees, backs, and lungs, especially for those afflicted with asthma, heart conditions, and arthritis or other joint ailments. Minimize the overuse of stairs or break up large expanses of stairs with landings. Be sure that the tread-to-riser ratio is a comfortable step and use handrails where possible.
Shade structures, such as arbors or canopies, provide a much-needed rest from the hot sun. I recommend you have a pleasant shaded resting space near your garden. Excess sun exposure can be a serious health threat, especially for the elderly, so grab your hat, apply sunscreen, and remember to rest in the shade and drink water frequently.
Landscape Design
Special design ideas, such as water features or sanctuaries, can bring a welcome calm to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Water features relax the spirit. Add “echo chambers” to amplify the sound of the running water and make ponds at least 32” deep for freeze protection for fish. Sanctuaries with themes that touch your heart and mind can have dramatic health benefits. When you have a place to focus on what is important to you and to touch roots with your beliefs, it can be the calm in the storm of today’s world that benefits your health.
Lawns may have their place in the yard, but they are high maintenance, especially when large expanses are used. I recommend minimizing your lawn for use in the areas where you really need it, such as children’s play spots, pet areas, entertaining spaces, etc. Lawns not only present health issues of mowing in the hot sun, including exposure to engine fumes, but also add the risk of chemical exposure from products used to
de-grub, feed, or weed the turf. Chemical risk is probably the more important issue, including the potential to pollute indoor spaces where wind and rain cannot disperse chemicals tracked in on your shoes. Removing shoes at the door helps.
Raised beds are the best way to go in my mind. Not only does it prevent repeated bending, but it can provide an area to sit while working, if planned properly. Sometimes raised beds require a bit of watering during rain-free periods, but the health benefits of reduced bending are numerous.
Planting Design
Design tips that may help reduce your gardening labor, can be broken down into a few categories. The first involves reduction of weeds (noted below), the nearby location of easy water access (noted above), and planting design for low maintenance, such as: minimizing use of annuals, using perennials and groundcover in a tight planting pattern to deter weeds; and choosing plants that require less yearly maintenance. Avoid using shade plants in sunny areas; remember that gardens evolve, especially where trees and shrubs are used, so shady areas change over time.
Plant selection can also affect your health, in both obvious and subtle ways. Avoid plants that elicit allergic responses or ones that pose a physical risk from thorns or barbs. Use plants with relaxing fragrances or colors. In general, pastels and shades of green and blue make us feel tranquil and calm. Silver and gray shades add a sense of coolness and serenity, while bright colors like red and yellow excite us with a vibrancy and cheerfulness.
Weed prevention reduces your gardening labor. Weeding is the biggest maintenance chore, so reducing the frequency will have great benefits. Reduce weeds by using weed cloth and mulch, or just mulch alone. Although weed seeds can blow on top of your fabric and mulch, the initial reduced maintenance is still worth it.
When I work in my garden, life has an earthy connection, and I feel like I am part of the whole. The health benefits that are rooted in the calming nature of working in the soil and growing plants can become even better when your garden is planned to be a little bit healthier. Have a great gardening season!