Working on the wells in the self-watering raised beds

Author: Annabelle Denham | Major: Horticulture | Semester: Spring 2024

Over the last two years, I have been working with Dr. Garry McDonald on planning and designing an accessible sensory garden that caters to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. I have worked and volunteered at Camp Barnabas, a summer camp for children and adults with special needs, since 2017. We settled on Barnabas as a suitable site to construct my garden as it would get a large amount of activity within a short amount of time from a wide demographic range of individuals with special needs. Throughout my junior year, from the fall of 2023 to the spring of 2024, I researched ADA guidelines and took Dr. McDonald’s Landscape Design course. This course helped prepare me to make detailed plant selections. To select the proper plants, one must consider various factors such as soil texture, soil pH, slope, light, shade, season of interest, budget, sustainability, etc. We primarily focused on hand drafting using an architect’s scale in that course. Both of these new skills were very useful in my design process.

I began to draft the hardscape of my project. One of my biggest challenges was figuring out how to get concrete work done for wheelchair-accessible pathways. Barnabas is located in Purdy, Missouri. I did several site visits with camp directors to find the spot best suited for the garden. Once it was settled, I began drafting to put the garden next to the farm activity on the east side of the camp.

I based many of my drawings on Google Maps aerial photographs and property records from Barry County, Missouri, along with physical site measurements and assessments. Through this research, I understood what needed to be done to alter the slope of the land for stormwater runoff, how much concrete was needed, and how much gravel and wire would be required underneath. I decided to go with a concrete pad instead of pathways, with one cutout for a sunken bed. This allowed me to design the self-watering raised beds with specific measurements in mind. I also got a more accurate view of the beds located around the garden’s perimeter for cut flower and perennial landscaping. I decided to fill the raised beds with sensory plants, pots with annuals, two edges of the garden with perennial Ozark natives, and create a bed of cut flowers on the east end of the garden by the roadside.

Near the end of the spring semester, I was able to have concrete poured. I completed the hardscaping by putting in benches and raised beds and constructing the self-watering wells underneath the raised beds I designed in the spring of 2023. I was very excited to be able to bring this project to Camp Barnabas! Multiple directors have approached me over the years, asking for advice on reviving their gardening activity. Horticulture therapy is growing, and I am hoping my research will better extend this form of therapy to people with special needs. The process of getting concrete work done was extremely stressful but a great learning experience on how to work with contractors. Dr. McDonald, Mrs. Michelle Wisdom, and Ms. Isabel Whitehead were very supportive as I ran through my design process with them countless times. Their help allowed me to move from the design phase into the building phase. The next step after the end of the spring semester was to begin planting.