Now the days (and crucially the nights) are warmer, many of us will be planting seedlings out in our gardens. And that goes for our green-fingered live-in care clients, too.
Live-in care is the perfect care solution if you’ve spent years nurturing and developing a beautiful garden. Or even if you have a range of plants in pots on your balcony. If you need extra care support, you don’t need to give up your home and your beloved outside space.
Let your live-in care worker do the hard work!
With live-in care an experienced care worker comes to live in your home with you. They are on hand 24 hours a day, to give you the exact level of care support you need.
As well as making sure you’re taking the medication you need, helping you get up and about in the morning or getting you to appointments, they could support you in your garden.
Your care worker could help you move out into the garden, prune shrubs you can’t reach any more, or grapple with any tough weeds! And as many of our clients have given up trying to mow the lawn, having 24-hour care at home means there’s always a care worker on hand to help.
What’s more, if you love visiting beautiful gardens, instead of going on your own, your care worker can take you there. Our client, Tracey, loves to get out and about in the local area.
Last weekend, after cutting and colouring Tracey’s hair, live-in care worker Grace accompanied her to Upwey Wishing Well in Weymouth. The trip gave them both a chance to fill up on fresh air, spring flowers, and no doubt a cuppa too!
Enhancing physical and mental health
Gardening is so much more than just mowing the lawn and weeding. As well as being great exercise it also gives our mental health a massive boost.
Growing something from seed, cosseting it until it’s ready to be planted out, keeping it fed and watered and then harvesting it, all these steps give us an incredible sense of achievement.
Gardening and dementia care at home
With a familiar seasonal cycle, gardening plays an important role in dementia care at home. And there’s always something to reminisce about in a garden.
Planning changes to even one small bed can encourage us to think about all our senses, such as:
- Deciding on a colour scheme for flowers and foliage
- Choosing a spot next to a patio for beautifully scented plants
- Planning where to plant so that the wind can rustle through leaves
- Putting plants that are good to touch next to a path, and of course
- Choosing fruit and vegetables to grow and eat!
Even a little weeding, dead-heading or harvesting can be great exercise. Bending and stretching combine to keep our bodies moving. This helps with balance and motor skills.
Topping up your vitamin D
There are lots of ways you can spend time in your garden with the support of your live-in care worker. It doesn’t have to be all work, work, work.
Just sitting outside, letting the sun warm your face and listening to the birds does us all the world of good.
Many of our elder live-in care clients have bird feeders in their garden. We love to hear how they and their care workers are attracting even more wildlife into their gardens.
Sharing the fruits of our labours
Noticing how the seasons change and shift, seeing what’s in bloom or what needs picking, it’s these small things that keep us connected to the world around us.
And being able to give back to family, friends and neighbours, in the form of bunches of cut flowers and excess veg patch produce, is really rewarding.
Planning for the future
Our gardens can inspire us even on the darkest and coldest of days. Many of our live-in care clients like to spend a winter’s afternoon scouring seed and bulb catalogues with their live-in care worker. Planning what to plant next season can really help alleviate any winter gloom and remind us that spring is never far away.
And of course, choosing and buying new plants and garden paraphernalia at the local garden centre is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Especially if there happens to be a good cafe there too!