Going green isn’t just good for the earth, it’s good for your kids too! Helping your children understand their role in taking care of our beautiful world teaches them responsibility and helps them discover their world in a rich new way. Here are some great ways to plant a garden with your kids this year.
How to Plant a Garden with Your Kids
Get your tools in toe – having the right gardening tools (including ones that are appropriate for your child’s age) will make your gardening experience more enjoyable. We recommend having a small shovel, a handle shovel, a small garden rake, potting soil, a watering bucket (a small one for them, a big one for you) and a few wire trellis.
Prepare your area – there are lots of ways to plant a garden nowadays which don’t require a huge amount of space. Raised wooden planters, large planter pots, or recycled barrels are all ways to build a garden. You can even have a vertical garden using hanging planter boxes and a wooden pallet. Don’t forget to figure out where your garden will go before you plant. Things you should look at include the amount of direct sunlight the area receives throughout the day, as well as soil drainage (if you’re planting directly in the ground). If your yard’s soil is clay heavy, you should probably mix 50/50 potting soil in with your natural ground dirt.\n
Pick your favorite plants – now it’s time to pick your perfect garden plants. Some easy & hardy kid friendly plants include:
Give them daily jobs – your kids will probably need reminders to check their plants, clear away weeds, & water daily. It might help to create a simple “Job Board” so they know which day they are responsible for being the “Gardener”. The funnest time of year for the kids is when they get to harvest the crop!
Look out for bugs – now that you have your garden planted, you might notice your garden is attracting some new visitors! Often beneficial garden bugs are natural predators of the bad bugs! To help you know which critters are good for your garden, and which aren’t, follow this chart:
