A Garden of Our Own: Gardening with Children

Just how can you get children involved with gardening? While they can certainly help you plant and maintain your landscape, children will be much more excited about getting their hands dirty in their very own garden plot.

Choose a spot in your garden that will provide plenty of sunshine for plants to grow. It doesn’t have to be large; an area as small as 4 feet square will provide plenty of room for youngsters to plant a sampling of flowers, vegetables, and other wonders. If using a larger planting bed, consider leaving room for a few well-placed paths to be sure children can easily reach any plants located in the center.

Good soil will be one of the most important factors to any successful gardening project. Once the ground is dry enough to work, dig and break up the soil to a depth no less than 8 inches. Be sure to include children in the gardening project right from the start. Most youngsters will jump at the opportunity to dig around in the garden. Functional child-size gardening tools may now even be purchased and are perfect for those small hands. Even toddlers can pretend they’re helping mom or dad with plastic toy gardening tools that are available.

Remember how excited you were when you decided what seeds or plants you would grow in your garden? Children can also experience this excitement when they are planning their own garden plot. For a small plot, a sampling of flowers, vegetables, and herbs will give children something new to discover every couple weeks. Try to choose plants that are easy to both easy to grow and that will fit well with the other plants to be included in the plot. Favorites like sunflowers should be planted in a separate area so their magnificent size and flower heads can be enjoyed without overshadowing other treasures in a smaller garden plot.

A variety of potted flowers, herbs, and vegetables will be available at your local greenhouse or garden center. Children will be able to easily understand what a particular plant may look like, and will provide immediate satisfaction when planted.

Alternatively, growing plants from seed is a magical experience for children. Vegetables like tomatoes and peppers, or flowers such as marigolds and petunias, can be started indoors on a sunny windowsill in early spring. Others like carrots or zinnias will do just fine when planted directly in the soil.

Keep in mind, planting the garden plot is just the start of all the fun. Spend time with your children regularly to see what is happening in their garden. While watering and weeding are important to growing healthy plants, these activities also give youngsters an opportunity to get "up close and personal" with the plants, insects, and other wonders that make the garden their home.

And don’t forget to talk about different stages of the gardening project with your children. You might ask why soil is important, or explain what worms do to help the garden. The many colors, shapes, sizes, and smells of plants and their fruit can be fascinating to children, so be sure to encourage them to look, touch, and smell the plants in their garden.

Today there are a number of wonderful books available that can help you create gardening experiences for your children that are both fun and educational. In Gardening with Children, author Beth Richardson gives step-by-step instructions on how to start a garden as well as ideas and activities that demonstrate how plants are an important part of our lives. The National Gardening Association’s Guide to Kids’ Gardening is also packed with ideas for parents and teachers who are gardening with children.

Green Bay Botanical Garden’s summer-long Children’s Programs are also a great way for children to experience the wonders of plants and nature. Geared toward to children ages 5-8 and ages 9-11, weekly gardening day classes give children hands-on experiences as they grow and care for plants in individual or shared plots. Additional group activities and demonstrations enable children to discover nature and the magic of growing.

Finally, if you don’t have the time or space for a garden plot, why not try a container garden? Container gardening is an easy, low cost way for families to give gardening a try. Choose a planter or other container with good drainage and fill with potting soil or soil-less potting mix. Let each child choose the plants they would like. Depending on the size of the container, two or more flowers, vegetables, and herbs with similar growing requirements may be combined in one planter if desired. Plan to water the containers frequently (a good responsibility for youngsters) and fertilize periodically. Then watch the fun grow!

For more information about Green Bay Botanical Garden’s Children’s Gardening Programs, please call (920) 490-9457 or (877) 355-4224 (GBBG)

"Easy to Grow…Pleasing to Kids" Plants