Able to Garden: A Practical Guide for Disabled and Elderly Gardeners

Even physically able gardeners will find worthwhile tips in this book, British in origin--specifically, the chapters on recycling those inevitable plastic bottles and ruined nylon stockings into useful and surprisingly varied garden equipment. Although Please has bowed to American readers by including inches and feet as well as metric measurements, the British slant of the book does intrude, with references to local composts, ``hosepipes'' for hoses and ``kerbing'' for curb. An opening chapter on planning is excellent, thanks to its illustrations, keyed to the text, of dos and don'ts of garden design for the disabled or elderly. Equally so is a chapter on walkways--materials available, with good and bad points noted--especially in its details on the needs of wheelchair users, visually impaired and mentally handicapped gardeners. If Please's had been an American book, it would undoubtedly have contained many more resources for gardeners--from tool and equipment suppliers to horticultural therapy groups. Still, it is a start at making gardening accessible to all. (Aug.)