If you love gardens and children, let me offer a few suggestions for planting a love of gardens in the hearts of the children in your life. School is finishing and summer plans are gelling. Spirits are rising, along with the early hellebore, peony, and iris. Maybe you’ll be looking after your grandchildren, niece, or nephew for a week or two. Or your neighbor’s toddlers are finding your garden and puppy irresistible and spending lots of time visiting you as you work in your garden.
Whatever the reason, let’s consider (1) the advantages of encouraging a love of gardens and gardening. (2) Local and regional public gardens you can enjoy with your young friends. (3) Hints and equipment for gardening with children. (Keep in mind that children may only find gardens and gardening interesting for a few days or a few weeks. That’s okay.)
Advantages & Skills Acquired While Gardening. Pediatricians and Child Psychologists agree on the skills and attributes developed by children involved in gardening:
Children Ages 2–10
Communication skills: giving and following directions, describing a process, asking questions, predicting outcomes, drawing conclusions
Interpersonal skills: team building, sharing responsibilities, listening to others
Setting and achieving goals: recognizing time constraints, appreciating appropriate goals, developing adaptability when problems arise
Exercise: the usual with fresh air, sunshine, and motor skills
Adolescents Ages 11–16
Exercise: (for those teens who prefer the computer to the soccer field) fresh air and sunshine. Tip: Sometimes, you might need to use the tried-and-true ploy, “Could you give me a hand with this? I can’t seem to be able to…”
Knowledge: I can imagine a science fair project in the offing. You might encourage your teen to take some time-lapse photos and measurements. The information can be set aside, and dusted off in the fall, when the school’s science fair is announced. It may be a relief for everyone if half the work is already completed and only a poster board and some glue are needed to display the experiment on photosynthesis or companion planting.
Interpersonal skills: “Helping” you trim the forsythia or plant marigolds and petunias may be a rare opportunity to listen to your teen. A few casual questions on a sunny afternoon in the garden can become a precious experience for you both. Working together to accomplish a task may be a rare experience for our often-isolated adolescents. “Responsibility” may be another skill developed while gardening. Watering, weeding, protecting young plants from bugs and bunnies; all opportunities to assume responsibilities that are achieved in real time.
Stress reduction: Teens are old enough to face lots of stress and need opportunities to deal with that stress. Gardening can prove a healthy alternative to zoning out on video games or sleeping. Depression can sometimes be eased with sunshine and Nature’s many charms, including fresh air and songbirds.
Kid-Friendly Public Gardens
Perhaps you’ve tried introducing your child to gardening in the past without success. A trip to a public garden that has child-friendly areas and programs might provide a fresh start to encouraging children to get involved with gardening:
Adkins Arboretum, Ridgely, MD: On the Eastern Shore with lots of trails for children to explore
American Horticultural Society Children’s Garden, Alexandria, VA: Includes a “Little House On the Prairie” garden
Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD: Includes a live caterpillar and butterfly exhibit
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, VA: Includes a “water play area” and Klaus Family Tree House”
Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA: Includes an indoor children’s garden and “Nature’s Castle Treehouse”
Miller Branch Library, Ellicott City, MD: An “Enchanted Garden”
U.S. Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, District of Columbia: Includes gardens planted by children
Winterthur Gardens, Wilmington, DL: Includes “The Enchanted Woods”
Suggestions & Tips for Adult-Child Gardening:
Following are a few suggestions that might help make your foray into gardening with children less daunting:
Plan Ahead: If you’re working with several children or only one:
- Decide and mark the area each child will have for her/his own garden. If you have room, spreading out the patches may avoid comparisons and competition.
- Gather enough tools for each child: sharing may come eventually, but start each child with his/her trowel, watering can, and work gloves.
- Be sure each plot has sufficient sunlight.
- Gather a few gardener’s catalogues. Each child will be able to see what the various plants will look like as they begin to mature. You can even make picture plant stakes to help the child remember what is planted and where.
Top Crops: Here’s a list of almost-fool proof plants children enjoy:
Bush beans • Carrots (fun example of tasty roots) • Cherry tomatoes (tasty treat for a tired gardener) • Lambs Ear (fool-proof, fuzzy, and cute plant) • Lettuce (nice because children can often get several harvests) • Nasturtiums (great for a conversation on edible flowers) • Potatoes (another tasty root) • Pumpkin (a big favorite, if you have room enough for the sturdy vines to spread) • Snow peas (fun to eat fresh off the vine) • Sunflowers (talk about photosynthesis and watch those heads turn!)
Miscellaneous Tips:
- Be prepared to “cheat”: If a bunny has devoured your young gardener’s lettuce plants, go ahead and replace them with a few fresh plants. Pull a few of those weeds choking her snow peas. Also, if you’re watering, sprinkle a bit around the children’s patches. It’s more important that they enjoy the gardening and the garden than that they do everything perfectly themselves.
- You may have an old sandbox in the garage or gardening shed. Fill it with soil and make that a child’s garden.
- Take lots of pictures of gardener and plants. Keep an on-line or paper scrapbook, even if the whole project lasts only a few days or a week. It will be fun to look back at the project as your young gardener matures and, hopefully, takes on more responsibilities and projects in the garden.
- Suggest a theme garden, perhaps like one they saw at a public garden. Paint rocks to place in the garden. Use twigs and shells to decorate the soil.
- If all else fails and the kids are getting cranky, build a scarecrow. Grab a leaky pair of boots or old sneakers, some socks, worn-out jeans, a long-sleeve shirt, garden gloves, a beach ball or big balloon, and a hat. Get that left-over straw from the spring or lots of newspaper and rags. Stuff those clothes; tie them together with gardening twine. Draw features on that balloon or ball, and bingo! You’ve got a scarecrow. (It can be a reclining scarecrow if the construction seems precarious.)
Whatever happens, have fun. Take pictures. Take your time. Savor those hours or days shared with children. You may get tired, frustrated, even annoyed, but you’ll look back on the days in the children’s gardens with appreciation and delight. Truly!
