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Adapt the Gardener - Selecting Tools and Equipment

By Gene Rothert

The right adapted or enabling tools are very dependant on individual abilities, the other adaptations needed in the garden and the kind of gardening planned.

Ultimately, it is combining the right adaptations to the garden with the best adaptive tools and techniques that enables safe and comfortable lifelong gardening. Tools should be functional yet comfortable when used properly, protecting muscles, joints, and abilities. However, selecting the best tools is very individualized with the goal being to strike a balance among a gardener's functional abilities, the extent of the other adaptations used in the design of the garden, and the type of gardening being done. For example, simple hand tools may be all that is needed if all the gardening spaces are positioned within easy reach of the hands. Wider raised beds and containers, overhead plants, and even some ground-level beds can be accessed with tools that extend reach. Sometimes, off-the-shelf garden tools found in the hardware store and garden center will be just fine as is or with minor adaptations such as shortening or padding a handle.

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This fact sheet was last updated on 01-30-2006.