Garden care is a service provided by in-home care and Home Care Package providers to help clients keep their gardens safe & tidy.
It combines assistance with gardening tasks and personalized care plans so that clients can still enjoy a safe and accessible garden (and ideally still be a part of maintaining it).
A: That’s our goal! If possible, we would want every client to maintain their gardening habits, if it's safe enough to do so.
Gardening regularly is one of the healthiest activities you can possibly do and its benefits are innumerable.
A part of the reason why assessments are so important is that they may help to keep you in and around your garden for longer.
Assessments help you and the coordinator decide:
How much assistance with gardening you need
How much you currently can still do by yourself
What improvements or equipment you need that can help you do more by yourself
So, while you may not be able to do as much gardening as you used to, assessments through home care coordinators and allied health professionals such as Occupational Therapists can help you find other ways to keep the joy of gardening, while removing some of the physical stress that comes with it.
A: Before you receive any help or support with your garden, a care coordinator will visit your home to evaluate your garden's condition through an assessment.
They'll look for ways that you'll either need additional support from professional gardeners, or changes to your gardening routine or setup that can help keep you in your garden for longer.
If you're getting ongoing garden care, you'll need to decide how to fund your garden care. Usually through a Home Care Package, a Commonwealth Home Support Package or out of your own pocket.
A: St Vincent’s employs third party gardeners to help maintain the parts of the garden that you can’t tend to yourself.
After a comprehensive assessment, we’ll organize regular gardening visits on your behalf to keep your garden safe and tidy.
Before you receive any help or support with your garden, a care coordinator will visit your home to evaluate your garden's condition.
The assessment considers:
Size and type of the garden (e.g., flowerbeds, vegetable patches, lawns)
Specific needs, such as weeding, pruning, planting, or lawn mowing
Safety concerns (e.g., uneven paths, overgrown plants)
Health limitations of the client, like mobility or physical strength
A home care coordinator can even suggest to include an assessment from an Occupational Therapist (OT) to look for safe ways that you can still be actively involved in looking after your garden, while still keeping safe.
Tools with soft, curved handles to reduce grip strain (e.g., pruners, trowels, weeding tools)
Long-handled tools for tasks like raking, hoeing, or digging, to reduce bending or reaching
Lightweight tools made from aluminum or composite materials for easier handling
Garden kneelers with handles that can also double as a seat, with handles to assist in standing up
Ratchet pruners that require less hand strength to cut through branches
Grip aids with foam tubing or silicone grips to make handles thicker and easier to hold
Long-handled watering wands for watering plants without stooping
Soil scoop tools that have deep scoops for faster pot-filling and soil transfer
Implementing raised garden beds to prevent the need for bending or kneeling
Using pots and planters for a more controlled and less labor-intensive gardening experience
Mulching to reduce the need for frequent weeding and watering of plants
Installing self-watering planters to reduce the frequency of watering tasks
Plant flowers or shrubs that come back every year to reduce replanting
Planting native plants that require less water and maintenance
Use ground covers like creeping thyme to reduce the need for mowing and weeding.
Important note: Many garden improvements listed here are likely to not be funded by a Home Care Package, but are still recommendations that could be made to keep you in your garden for longer that you can pay for with your own money.
Setting a routine and specific gardening tasks to certain days of the week to spread out the workload
Working during cooler hours such as in the early mornings or late afternoons to avoid heat and fatigue
Prioritizing essential tasks first (e.g., watering and weeding)
Rotating garden tasks to alternate between standing and sitting tasks to reduce strain on specific muscle groups
Taking frequent breaks resting every 20–30 minutes or when feeling tired
Using timers for gardening sessions to avoid overexertion
Dividing tasks into 15–20 minute intervals rather than completing everything in one go
Planning ahead more by gathering all tools and materials before starting to minimize back-and-forth trips
Using a garden cart or trolley for transporting tools, plants, or soil, reducing physical strain
Keeping frequently used tools in an easily accessible location to reduce effort
For everything else you need support with, St Vincent’s has trusted third party gardeners and landscapers that we employ to help maintain the parts of the garden that you can’t tend to yourself.
Clearing pathways of hazards
Installing handrails or ramps if needed
Mowing lawns
Raking leaves
General tidying
Pruning
Watering
Fertilizing
Pest control
Accessible gardening set-ups
You can fund home care services like garden care in 3 main ways:
1. Home Care Package
2. Commonwealth Home Support Package
3. Paying out of your own pocket
One of the most common ways home care clients fund their garden maintenance is through the funding of a Home Care Package.
You can also fund any additional gardening services you need out of your own pocket.
There’s also entry level funding packages through the Commonwealth Home Support Program that might be available for you to use.
Something to consider: When it comes to government funded home care (through Home Care Packages & the Commonwealth Home Support Program) there are limitations on the types (and amount) of garden care you can receive
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