Ask Gary ADA

Posted By Gary Renick on March 2, 2009

Spring is nearly here. Well in Texas it has mostly arrived. Everyone is out in their yards planning

 and planting. The colors of spring are here and the grass is growing and greening again. I love this time of the year. I love being outside in the garden, planning and planting. Yesterday My wife and kids and I went to the local garden center to get mulch and soil for our new house. The soil is for the vegetable garden in the backyard. The mulch and the new Bottle Brush plant are for the flowerbed in front. Anyway as we made our way through the garden center I was once again reminded how far we still have to go in the area of public accessibility. As I turned down the first row of brightly colored bedding plants I suddenly realised I was not moving forward dispite having the joystick fully forward. I then notice I was on a bed of loose white decorative stone. The more I struggled the deeper I went and to more stuck I became. It took the help of my wife and daugher to free me and get me back on solid ground. The worst part for me was that several employees walked by as we struggle and never once offered to help. All of this reminded me of the lack of enforcement there is with the ADA. This pathway, while very pretty, was not contructed in an approve way nor was the proper material used. The stone was simple white stone mulch for use in beds or a rock garden. They were not properly compacted . In fact the gravel or stone was simply poured over the muddy ground. Things like this, while making me momentarily angy, help to keep me focused on my mission to build a barrier free world. To do that I must try to educate those who need it on the proper ways of building accessible structures including garden paths

Related articles by Zemanta

• Improving Your Knowledge Of Organic Container Vegetable Gardening (backyardgardeningtips.com)

Categories: Handicap Issues, The ADA
Tags: accessible home design, Garden