Help with gardening.

JellyBaby88

I'm not sure if this is the correct discussion to put this in but I thought it was the closest one to my question. 

I have lived in my council house for 20+ years and since my disability started, 5 years ago, I've been struggling to maintain the gardens. Both the front and back gardens are overgrown severely. It affects my mental health because they look so terrible. I simply cannot do it myself without causing injury or considerable pain, I have tried before, so I know it's something I can't do. 

I have contacted the council and asked if they would consider paving the gardens but they refused and said that my pip is to pay for the upkeep of gardening etc. Which is true if I wasn't having to use pip to pay for other things. 

They also have a gardening service but it's not something I can afford at the moment. If my food bill and the gas and electric was cheaper, it probably wouldn't be an issue but this isn't something that will be happening anytime soon. 

Before my illness I used to do it myself or my mum would but she is not able to now due to her own health. I'm at a loss of what to do. I have tried googling my area for gardening for disabled people but there is not anything. Age concern do but I'm not old enough for that lol. 


So does anybody have any bright ideas of what I can do. Any help is appreciated.

Steve_in_The_City

Don't discuss PIP with your council. What you spend your PiP on is your concern and not theirs. They are offloading responsibility. It is incumbent upon your local council to make sure that your home is a safe and secure place.

Until last year I lived in a flat with a very big front garden, but my local council gardeners came around and kept the space good. Tell your council to come and trim your garden and don't accept the "no" word. All sorts of vermin will live in an unattended garden like rats and mice, so just insist they come and give it a trim.

Where I live now I have a large front yard but a council gardener comes in and trims it up once in a while. It is to everyone's benefit. It keeps me free from vermin and it makes the estate look better. So keep on calling your council (they will eventually get fed-up with your repeated complaints and will do something), don't discuss PiP and tell them you will call Health and Safety if they continue to leave your garden in a mess.

JellyBaby88

Steve_in_The_City said:

Don't discuss PIP with your council. What you spend your PiP on is your concern and not theirs. They are offloading responsibility. It is incumbent upon your local council to make sure that your home is a safe and secure place.

Until last year I lived in a flat with a very big front garden, but my local council gardeners came around and kept the space good. Tell your council to come and trim your garden and don't accept the "no" word. All sorts of vermin will live in an unattended garden like rats and mice, so just insist they come and give it a trim.

Where I live now I have a large front yard but a council gardener comes in and trims it up once in a while. It is to everyone's benefit. It keeps me free from vermin and it makes the estate look better. So keep on calling your council (they will eventually get fed-up with your repeated complaints and will do something), don't discuss PiP and tell them you will call Health and Safety if they continue to leave your garden in a mess.

Thanks for your response. I haven't told the council or ever discussed with them that I get pip, I guess it must be in any information that they have on me. 

The council have off-loaded the care of green spaces onto tenants. They did this about 4 years ago. They did it when they changed refuse collectors, the previous ones used to cut the grass everywhere but the newer ones only do the council's bit and trim hedges. 

I have explained my situation to them repeatedly but just get told that it's my responsibility to maintain it.