In 2010 Age Corncern launched their ‘Adopt a Garden’ scheme. The idea behind the scheme is that older people with gardens which they cannot maintain register and people who would like a garden but do not have access to one register. They are then paired up so that together they have access to a maintained, appreciated and productive garden (as the scheme is aimed at facilitating home grown fruit and vegetables).
This seems like a reasonable idea; however there are some key issues which would have to be considered. I imagine that the main barrier to sign-ups from home owners is access. They would have to give a stranger access to their home and may not be happy with the gardener’s routines and when they want to do their gardening. To what extent can the gardener customise the garden to their liking? Whilst I am not suggesting that they would re-landscape the garden could they support their flowerbeds with railway sleepers? If a fence panel was blown down in a storm who would be responsible for replacing or repairing it?
I am sure that there is a process which manages pairing people up and pre-agreeing the above potential problems and in which case I think it is a great idea and wish Age Concern the best of luck in making the scheme a success.
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