4 minute read
a garden and a disability
By Linda Crabtree, C.M., O.ONT. Photos by ron Book, linda Crabtree and Nadine Smeed.
When my husband, Ron Book, and I bought our 60-by-120-foot corner lot in 1988, we had no intentions of having a garden …ever.
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I designed our home using the concepts of Universal Design because I was born with a progressive genetic neuromuscular condition (CharcotMarie-Tooth disease, or CMT) that has left me, at 79, unable to stand. I am also losing the use of my hands. Back then, I could walk but we were running a world-wide organization for people with CMT so there was little time for gardening.
A layer of landscaping material and tons of Lake Erie beach stone, along with a truckload of granite boulders from a local vineyard, went into the areas of our lot facing the street on the east and south. I was given 24 hours to find trees. The landscapers were coming the next morning. I wanted black pines but settled for Scots pines. I was told they wouldn’t grow too tall. They were wrong.
Pink dogwood and Japanese maple at front of house.
Linda drawing a foxglove on the lounge.
I had once marveled at a pink dogwood in full bloom and vowed that if I ever had the space, I’d have one, so a pink dogwood and a Japanese maple went into the front. The south side of the house got five pines, a smoke bush and several dogwoods. We live in the Southern Ontario Carolinian forest area near Niagara Falls. Flowering dogwoods thrive here and we now have 14 on the property.
In 2002, after 18 years, we passed the CMT organization on and I began to explore our neighbourhood on my electric scooter. I would stop in front of rosebushes and want to take home just one perfect bud but they were always somebody else’s. I think it was then that I decided that I wanted a garden of our own.
Samantha at work on the deep shade circle garden.
Linda’s tools for tending the garden.
Ron takes care of the watering.
Our first garden was a 20-foot bed beside the driveway, planted in white, yellow and pink roses.
The backyard, which is a small fenced-in private enclave just off our family room, initially had a waterfall and a small 6-by-10-foot pond. A goldfish slaughter by raccoons and a constantly leaking waterfall saw us end up with a large bubbling granite rock, the top slightly scooped for a birdbath. Birds love it and the sound of moving water is incredibly relaxing. The yard is surrounded by some 50 cedars and there are two very tall ‘Shademaster’ locusts overhead giving the area a cathedral-like feel. A concrete slab path lets me keep tabs on everything. I can still hold a light pen and watercolour brush and have spent many an afternoon out there on an upholstered automatic bed painting. It is my little piece of heaven.
Niagara is wine country and my next venture was a raised garden in seven half wine barrels at 50 dollars each. Ron drilled, lined and elevated them on large oak blocks so that I can simply pull up in my scooter and plant, weed and pick. Those barrels have been a source of enjoyment for many years.
West down Canada Post path.
Over the marigolds into the circle garden and beyond.
Wine barrels cut in half make handy planters.
Linda’s work in progress.
Because my hands are extremely weak, and I have no grip or pinch, I use a variety of utensils from the kitchen as garden tools and even then it is difficult. But if you love what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter how hard or how long things take.
In 2018, my niece, Samantha, worked with me to design a deep shade garden under a mature blue spruce, original to the property. The area behind the tree had simply been a place for discarded garden paraphernalia. Now it is quite lovely and has a path into it.
When the Scots pines got so tall that there was nothing to see except trunk, we had them cut down. That left a huge open area on the south side of the house. I began with hydrangeas and hostas next to the house and on the other side of a walkway, initially installed for Canada Post to get around the corner, started filling in with perennials between the dogwoods and smoke bush. I had and have no real plan, I just buy what intrigues me and makes me want to paint.
A mix of colour in the perennial garden.
When it became clear that Ron was not into tending a garden—he has enough to do with shopping, house- work and meals—I found a very capable woman who loves gardens as much as I do. Nadine Smeed keeps the gardens looking beautiful, plants what I buy, and humours me when I have “a thought.”
So, it takes three to keep this garden: I plan, buy and work the barrels; Nadine plants, weeds, and tends, and Ron waters and keeps things neat. I have an accessible garden I can enjoy on my scooter and beautiful views from our patio, dinner table, the family room sofa and my bed. And, I can cut a rose anytime I like.
