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From my Garden, February
2005
Handicapped Rose Gardening Growing Roses was my relaxation, escape from the stresses of life and my exercise. Whether hot or cold, I never noticed the temperature in my own little world of rose gardening. You can imagine my thoughts when I suffered a major debilitating stroke in March of 2002 which left my left side all but useless. While in rehab right after the stroke, seven miniature rose bushes, ordered the previous fall, arrived in the mail. I asked my wife to bring them, pots, potting soil, and a trowel to the hospital where I proceeded to pot them up. The therapists wrote it down as rehab and were enthusiastic that I still maintained an interest in my hobby. I learned to walk again, but had little stability, especially on lawns and other rough surfaces. I couldn’t walk up or down a sloped surface. My son talked me into buying a Rascal scooter to help me get around easier. As my strength improved, I began trying to do some gardening from the seat of my scooter. A small basket on the front of the scooter provided a place to keep my pruners and other gardening tools. A friend made me a hitch so I could pull a small wagon behind me. I cut back the sizes of my beds and my roses from over 500 bushes to a more manageable 250. Having recently moved, I had a watering system professionally installed to aid with watering chores. The more I tried to do from the seat of my Rascal, the more I found I could do. After turning the Rascal over a few times, I found I was not made of china and still bounced. I also learned to be more careful. By cutting the beds down, I was able to access the rose bushes easier and even learned to dig holes to plant new roses and to transplant. By planting the bushes no more than two wide I can access them from either side. The following spring I ordered 100 bare root rosebushes from the West coast and potted them in my greenhouse over a two week period. Each time I attempted something new, I found out I could do a whole lot more than I thought I could so I kept trying to do more. My yard gently slopes from the road down to my greenhouse and I wanted a level place to park my trailer to keep it from spoiling my wife’s view of our little pond and the birds who frequented it. I had found that I could move a lot of material, one 5 gallon bucketful at a time, simply by sticking to it. I marked off an area next to the greenhouse, 10 feet wide by 24 feet long and proceeded to remove the soil by placing the filled bucket on the floor of the scooter, then taking it to a low spot in the yard, dumping it and spreading it out with my little 3 tined garden tool. After 3 weeks, I had cleared that place next to the greenhouse, leveled the yard, and planted grass seed. During the process, I about wore out the scooter but I also found I was limited to what I could do only by my own fear. My roses looked really good last season as I was able to keep them weeded, fertilized, and deadheaded while working from the seat of the scooter. I’ve even been able to walk in the beds and use a long handled rake, hoe, and shovel. Although, I still have no use of my left arm or hand, I’ve learned to do what I could with my right arm. I’m really wobblely walking but I take the garbage cans out to the curb on pick up day and spend a lot of time in my greenhouse getting my hands dirty. My right arm is getting very strong from picking up all those 5 gallon buckets of dirt. The point I’m trying to make here is: A stroke or other debilitating ailment need not be the end of life as you knew it. By making a few adjustments, one can lead a near normal like and continue to do those things you enjoy. I drive, drove to Florida three times, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, go shopping by myself, walked through Southlake Mall by myself at Christmas doing my own shopping for the holidays, flew to Hawaii and had a heck of a time, and during a my wife’s recent illness, proved to her that I could cook, do dishes, and keep the house clean. Because I stay active I’ve maintained my weight. Ones first thought when affected like this is to park your butt in front of the TV and become a couch potato. You’ll not only get fat, but shorten your life. I realize not everyone who has a disabling illness can recover as much as I have but you are only limited by your own desire to improve. It’s easy to sit back and not try and it takes a certain determination and hard work, plus a few bumps and bruises to improve. If you don’t try, it can’t happen. Remember, don’t sweat the small
stuff. Happy rose growing I’m available to answer rose growing questions via the internet at rosenut@rosenut.com or visit my website at www.rosenut.com , or you can come by my home most anytime for hands on rose growing tips and advice. Have Questions? Write to: rosenut@rosenut.com |