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December 3, 2008
Bring the Outdoors in with an Indoor Garden
INSIDER TIP: Put some spring in an older adult's step with an indoor garden!
 Caregivers, Help Your Loved Ones Blossom…As a person ages, it can become increasingly difficult to enjoy outdoor gardening, usually due to mobility issues. And for those living in parts of the country where the first snowfall
has already fallen—it can just be too darn cold to grow anything right now.
Indoor gardens allow older adults to continue seeing flowers, veggies or even herbs spring to life right in their home or even in a facility setting. For activity directors purchasing indoor gardens can delight residents—and save you some green if your facility’s finances preclude implementing a more expensive greenhouse or outdoor garden.
AeroGarden produces a number of indoor aeroponic garden products, which means they work without soil. The mess-free system allows you to grow specific flowers, vegetables and herbs by having the root system hooked in with the right amount of water, nutrients
and light for faster growth. It also means banishing any potential for soil-related pests or fungi. The company also has space-saver options for crowded areas!
HerbKits.com offers stackable indoor herb, strawberry, vegetable and herbal tea gardens with peat pellets that act as the soil in the event you want a smidge of dirt under green thumbs. Plants can be transferred outdoors if they get too big for the original pot.
StandUp Gardens has two large indoor garden structures that have received nods from many facilities and was selected by Dr. Bill Thomas as “an excellent tool” for adopting his Eden Alternative, a program which works to de-institutionalize the culture and environment of nursing homes across the country.
Refresher: Whether you choose a Space-saver Aerogarden for a diminutive assisted living room, wheel in a StandUp Garden for everyone in a nursing home to enjoy, or just place a veggie garden into a senior’s kitchen, indoor gardens, no matter the size or type, are a perennial favorite for older adults.
Extra Credit:Get the inside scoop on exercises and hobbies for those with limited mobility.
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