Garden makeover

kingfisherblue

Some posters might remember that a national charity are doing a garden makeover for my son. He has Down's Syndrome, with several medical problems. After taking horticulture lessons at his special school, he expressed a wish to grow carrots. I contacted a charity for help with beds raised high enough for him to sit at, and from numerous other applications, my son was one of the lucky ones to be chosen. This particular charity transforms gardens or bedrooms for disabled children under 18. For my son, the newly designed garden will mean that he can grow veg, have a sensory garden, and will also have a water play area - we were offered a swing or sandpit, or some other form of play, and my son loves tipping water from one tub to another.


The rain heaved down this morning, but twelve volunteers came to do the garden makeover for my son. They're halfway through, and will be back tomorrow - but boy! Is it muddy!

So far, the uneven, raised and very overgrown part at the end of the garden has been dug out and levelled. The lleylandii trees (bane of my life!) have been dug up, trunk and roots included. The shed door, which was rotten (shed is brick), has been removed and a new door made and mounted onto new hinges. The side wall of the shed has been painted white. The garden was paved, and half of the flags have been lifted and the ground levelled. Three beds have been made - one low and two about mid-thigh height on me (I'm 5'6"), for my son to sit at. One of the beds is enormous, and will be halved in area tomorrow as it is too big for him to reach over. The water play table has been custom made to allow my son to sit at it - most are for toddlers, but my lad is now 17. Part of the patio has been jet washed, but it turned out that the drain was blocked, so that has been fixed as well.

The people who volunteered for this have been fantastic. It will make such a difference to my son. It should be completed tomorrow, possibly by the time he gets in from school, so that's when he will see it.

I've taken photos throughout the day, so that he can see what happened step-by-step. He loves photos, so I think I'll print some off and put them into an album for him. Then, as time goes on, he can add pictures of the veg he grows.


I hope nobody minds me posting this. I've received a lot of support from MSE over the years, and I wanted to share some good news with you.

SandraScarlett

What a lovely, uplifting post to read - thank you for sharing this. :T I am so pleased that your lad is getting something that will make such a difference to his life, and it is humbling to read of the simple things that bring pleasure to his life.


And how nice to read of the kind people that we can still find in this world. May you, your son and all your friends and family have many happy times in his Special Garden.


xx

kingfisherblue

Thank you Sandra - the volunteers are truly amazing people. It was hard physical graft in dreadful weather, but everyone mucked in (quite literally - you should have seen the amount of mud!).

GlasweJen

Yay, this is such a lovely story, how something so simple as growing carrots can make your son feel happy. Hope he is enjoying his new garden!

sheep-ali

I am so pleased that your son has been helped to expand his interest by these wonderful people. I hope he has many happy years in his garden

kingfisherblue

Thanks everyone - but what dreadful weather today! I don't envy the volunteers who are coming to finish the garden this morning. It's been raining all night and still hasn't let up.

SandraScarlett

There was a TV advert last year, I think, that showed a lad growing seeds in his garden. He shoo-ed the birds away when they came near, and protected his crop when it poured.


And at the end of the advert, he sat down at the table, and on his plate was one weeny carrot! But oh! The pride with which he viewed and ate his largesse!


I hope your lad has an equally happy feeling of achievement.


xx

supersaver2

How wonderful, gives you a nice feeling to know such people and charities exist. I have a disabled daughter so know only to well the different challenges they (and us as parents) face.

Would love to see some pictures when it's all finished!

kingfisherblue

Well, the sun has come out and it hasn't rained for at least an hour! The water play table has been mounted onto the side of the garage - it's square-ish with a cut out part where my son can sit. The water covered mud from this morning has gone, and raised beds are being secured in place.


I'll try to post pictures when it's finished, but I'll probably need help from my kids!


More good news today - my son had his regular hospital check up today. His doctor is delighted with his medical progress, and will see him one more time before discharging him to GP care. He had thought my son would need to be under the adult respiratory clinic, but although he still has problems with his breathing, I can deal with it with GP support when necessary.

densol_2

What a lovely story ! Thank you for sharing I hope his veg and fruit grow beautifully in his new garden !

kingfisherblue

The herbs are in. The apple tree is in a separate pot (a large one that I already had), and the volunteers are just planting plug plants of carrots, peppers and other veg. I bought a weather station from Home Bargains 9admittedly a very simple one!), and that's just been placed. There are seeds for next year, a watering can and a couple of other tools, a water wheel for the water play, and the shed roof has been repaired and recovered. Tools have been put away and the fake grass is going down shortly.


It looked earlier as though it wouldn't be finished on time, but everything seems to have come together all of a sudden.