Download October gardening update

October gardening update
“I’m itching to deadhead your garden” is a phrase I often hear from patients’
relatives and friends who visit the therapy garden. They want to tidy up, snip
off and weed out. I have to tell them “I want it to look like that!” Of course I
could sweep all those leaves up or deadhead all the spent flowers and foliage,
but that would be denying my patients a rehabilitative opportunity and a lot of
fun. In fact, I positively encourage a little wildness, so that there are visible
and purposeful tasks for patients to do in therapy sessions.
These pain management patients
(left) are engaged in autumn tidying.
I am showing them how to use
lightweight, long handled tools such
as the leaf grabber and the jumbo leaf
sack to make these gardening tasks
easier and safer. They are pacing
themselves with small timers so that
they don’t overdo it.
When their
timers start beeping they will change
their posture by moving to a different
task, and reset their timers to their
known baselines. At the same time
they will be using sensible lifting and
handling techniques and maintaining a safe posture to protect their backs and
minimise any strain that might exacerbate their pain.
Working in small groups means that patients can enjoy the social aspects of
gardening, while at the same time acting as mentors for each other. The
hospital runs three-week pain management courses for people with chronic
pain. Often these people have never met anyone else with a similar condition
until they come on the course.
The opportunity to share life stories and
experiences of coping is invaluable.