Have a variety of things to do

The beauty of community gardening is that it offers lots of different things to do and ways that people can engage in the outdoors.

Each person can find something to do during the session. It may or may not be gardening – it’s what is meaningful for the person that’s important.

So a variety of activities should be on offer – not everyone will want to work in the garden.

Have some options for those who have very significant mobility issues or low energy. For example, the DIGnity artist brings along different sorts of art activities, and we drink cups of tea and prepare a meal.

Encourage everyone to do whatever they feel comfortable with, doing things ‘correctly’ is not important, having something meaningful to do is.

Everyone has a go.

I am just not a gardner.

Practical tips

What sort of gardening activities can participants do?

– watering
– raking leaves
– turning the compost
– planting seeds
– potting up plants
– weeding
– picking produce
– dead-heading dead flowers

What general activities can participants do?

– sitting and talking
– observing others
– sorting items (for example, gardening gloves)
– learning and exchanging ideas

Find out more

This blog post from Dementia UK includes a practical list of ‘Gardening activities for someone with dementia’.

Look at p.26 of this resource: ‘Advising dementia-friendly gardening activities at home’ for seasonal suggestions of what to do in the garden alongside a person with dementia.