Hook Home Help helps with some planting and creating a sense of independence and pride

Our geraniums in bloom

Every client has different needs and wants and every client requires a slightly different service. This client usually needs me to help her practice walking following a hip operation. Over the past few months we have walked many miles together in many different places from the cemetery to the garden centre. So it was a surprise when I arrived ready to walk and instead of asking about the weather and what coat to wear, she told me that her gardener had not been able to come that week and she was worried about her geraniums!

It is hard for anyone to ask for help but I soon realised that our plans had changed and the priority was the plants. I knew that she was frustrated that she could not it herself and I suspected that my repotting skills may not be up to her standards, so I created a system that enabled her to do the planting herself without having to bend down.

She sat on a chair near the table in the garden. I brought over the plants, the pots, the compost, the watering can and the green bin. I did all the manual labour of removing the old plants from the pots and putting the compost in and she planted her plants exactly how and where she wanted them.

I felt proud of having invented a system that made her able to do something in her garden herself. This gave her a sense of purpose, some time outside and she felt proud of what she had done. It made a nice change for her to able to do something that she loved without relying on other people for help.

We did 4 or 5 pots just like the one in the photo. We worked together on equal terms passing the water and the trowel and having a chat. She was in charge of the planting and I was in charge of the lifting.

I tidied everything up and put everything away and she was so happy and so grateful for the chance to do something that used to be part of her identity but that she has lost touch with due to mobility issues.

Every week I go over to see her to take her for a walk or do some physio exercises and every time we are in the garden, she points out our pots and shows me how well they are doing. As they grow and flourish, they remind us of that lovely afternoon.