Kid's gardening, an outdoor activity the whole family will enjoy.
In the Garden,
By Amy Kolb Noyes
Kids love to get dirty, so what can be more fun than digging in the dirt? Digging in the dirt with beautiful results, that’s what! Most children love to garden, and why not? Gardening is getting dirty with a purpose. It is nature and science rolled into one, unfolding right before their very eyes. It is a way that even toddlers can beautify the world in which they live. Yes, gardening is a great way to spend a day with children, and you end up with a lifetime of living legacies to remind you of your shared moments. If you have the space, try dedicating a garden plot just for your child or children. Let them make some or all of the choices regarding what will be planted there. A child’s garden need not be big. In fact, a small space planted densely will keep weeding to a minimum. While children may enjoy tending the garden throughout the summer, no one likes to spend endless hours weeding!
Eat It Up
Theme gardens are also fun for kids to plan and plant. You can grow gardens to attract wildlife or let kids plant their favorite foods. It’s amazing how even the pickiest eaters are eager to try foods they grow themselves! Try planting a salsa garden with tomatoes, onions and pepper varieties. How about a pizza garden? Include tomatoes, herbs such as basil and oregano, and your family’s favorite vegetable toppings. Berry gardens are another fun option. My children have a berry garden by their swing-set. They love to keep track of the blueberries’ progress and check to see if any new strawberries are ripening. Even more, of course, they love to pick their own snacks while out playing! Check with a local garden center to see what grows best by you. Berries can be problematic in dry climates because they require lots of water and well-drained soil, but mulching can help your soil retain moisture. Using high-acid mulch like pine provides an added bonus for plants, such as blueberries, that love acidic soil. Adding compost to your soil will also help keep berry plants healthy and happy.
Attract Attention
Butterfly gardens are another great choice for kids. They produce beautiful flowers that attract butterflies to your yard, and children love the brightly colored blooms as much as the butterflies! A good butterfly garden will have flowers that produce the nectar that butterflies eat, as well as plants on which caterpillars feed. Butterflies lay their eggs on the same plants that baby caterpillars eat, but these plants are different for different types of butterflies. You’ll need to find out what types of butterflies frequent your area before deciding exactly what to plant. Monarch caterpillars, for example, eat milkweed. So if you want to attract and maintain Monarch butterflies in your yard, you’ll need to have some milkweed in your garden or nearby.
Some gardeners prefer to plant caterpillar plants in a less obvious place, even outside the flower garden, because they consider munched-on leaves unsightly. Caterpillars can really strip a plant of its greenery! However, if you want your garden to be a place to learn about butterflies, consider keeping those caterpillar plants in your garden proper. Rocks and bushes will also enhance your butterfly garden. Large rocks or stone walls provide warm places for butterflies to sunbathe, and sheltering bushes provide protection from harsh weather. Sunflowers are my favorite seeds to plant with children, since the seeds are big enough for kids to easily handle and count out themselves. Once sprouted, children can see and measure the growth—often producing flowers taller than themselves! When my daughter was in preschool, we grew her very own summer hideout. We made a circle of rocks about 4 feet in diameter and loosened the soil inside. We then planted the center of the circle with native wildflowers and, around the perimeter, we sowed sunflower seeds. She enjoyed tending to her garden throughout early summer. By the time the sunflowers had grown tall enough to serve as fort walls, she had picked most of the wildflowers, but the leftover greenery made a nice, soft carpet for her fort.
Getting Started
Starting your own seedlings is far more economical than purchasing plants. All you need is a pack of seeds and some good seed-starter soil. There is no need to purchase fancy flats; any container will do, provided it has proper drainage and is placed in a sunny location. Be sure to rotate seedlings that start to lean toward their light source. To plant seeds, I reuse old pots, cottage cheese containers, even chipped pottery. Just check out your recycle bin. An adult should make drainage slits in the bottom of plastic containers using sharp scissors or a knife. My kids eat a lot of yogurt from those plastic six-pack containers. We save the containers and decorate them during the winter with paint, markers, stickers, glitter glue—you name it! Come time to plant seeds, we are ready to go with our personalized starter pots.
Container gardening
is another great option for kids … especially if you don’t have yard space to spare. Large pots, half whiskey barrels, sand buckets or any other container you might have around the house will come alive and stay in bloom all season when planted with colorful annuals. Pots and buckets have the advantage of portability; just be sure to drill drainage holes in the bottom of your containers.
Other Options
If you have a yard, don’t overlook the possibility of perennials. Perennial tubers and bulbs are the perfect planting project for small hands. They are easy for even the youngest gardeners to handle and place in the ground. Tubers and bulbs also produce comparatively sturdy stocks and flowers, making them perfect for planting around play areas. Caladiums, also known as Elephant Ears, produce foliage that is both beautiful and sturdy. Caladiums can sometimes stand being stepped on by little feet and look no worse for the wear. Besides, what kid wouldn’t want to plant something called an Elephant Ear? Daffodils, a favorite among bulb gardeners, can often deflect a playground ball and pop back up to a vertical position. Even if a few flowers do break off, the bulbs make lovely cut flowers. At my house, many an accident has resulted in: “Mommy, I brought you a bouquet!”
This article reprinted with the kind permission of
Houston Family Magazine.
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