Timber Press, 2019 Portland, Oregon 214 pages.
Who can resist a book whose preface begins, “The year I became a Master Gardener, I couldn't wait to apply the information I'd learned so I could transform my garden. With my bad back, I knew the last thing I should be doing was wrestling with heavy things – like this one concrete pot I wanted to move – but I did it anyway. “ You can guess where that went. However, recovery took things a bit further. It inspired our author, Toni Gattone to learn and do even more. The resulting book, THE LIFELONG GARDENER, GARDEN WITH EASE & JOY AT ANY AGE, allowed this Master Gardener to teach and share a great deal of experience and knowledge to anyone who would listen about safely and efficiently gardening within the real boundaries our bodies create for our activities.
The main focus of the book is Adaptive Gardening. Adaptive gardening is about the use of techniques, garden design and tools that ease the physical stress of gardening on joints, muscles, etc., making gardening safer and much more accessible. Here are some of the rules, Gattone, puts forward:
1. Our bodies change. That's life. Look for other ways to get things done.
2. You deserve a safe and comfortable garden to work in.
3. Stretch and move to warm up to the work.
4. Switch it up. Rotate your activities and movements.
5. Gardening smarter takes less time and more gets done.
6. Fill your garden with the “right plant, right place” and save time, energy and money.
7. Ask for help. It might be more fun, too.
8. Look for ways to make things easier such as a special tools, pads, mobile scooters, etc.
9. Use tools that are comfortable, ergonomic.
10. Create a garden at a level comfortable for use: raised beds, eye level gardening, etc.
These basic principles are supported throughout the book with practical, reasonable and attainable methods and resources. She shares health related information from the Mayo Clinic, CDC (Center for Disease Control), Arthritis Foundation, and other sources. Also included are basic gardening practices , too. Containers, fences, vertical gardening, watering, etc., and more are explored to help create a garden that works for you without extra wear and tear.
Her message is clear. Keep gardening by adapting your gardening to what works for you as you change. Along the way, look for other opportunities to share your love of gardening as a Master Gardener, as a member of a garden club, as a part of a community garden, and whatever other possibilities come your way. It is never too early to start making it easier and hopefully extending our gardening time and pleasure.
Consider also reading GARDENING FOR A LIFETIME: How to become a Garden Wiser as You Grow Older by Sydney Eddison (Timber Press, Oregon, 2010). A lovely book with illustrations by Kimberly Day Proctor.