Gardening for Kids

Sunflowers look pretty & the birds love the seeds that grow in their centers.

Get your kids interested in gardening here at the Ornate Bird Garden, and you will have taught them a skill for life. They will learn more about nutrition and the value of fresh vegetables and fruit. It also gives them a hobby to keep them from loitering around underfoot and bothering you!

What You Will Need:

• 4 to 6 hours of direct sunlight a day (a south window or south-facing plot of land for the garden)
• Potting soil (available at garden centers)
• Peat pots in which to start plants from seed, if that’s what you want to do
• Containers such as flowerpots or window boxes, if you want to try container gardening. Your container must have a drainage hole in the bottom.
• A solid saucer (no drainage hole) to place underneath your planting container in which to catch run-off water. This will protect your table or windowsill from water stains.
• Gardening tools for outside, if that’s what you want to do, such as trellises, string, stakes, a trowel
• Water. A garden hose for outdoors; a watering can for indoors.

Step 1: Sit down with your kids and decide which type of garden to plant. Some kids like flowers and some would rather grow something “practical” like vegetables. Some kids want to get their hands dirty in an outdoors garden. Others would rather avoid getting sweaty but like houseplants.

Things to keep in mind to make things fun for kids: choose fast-growing plants so kids can see a quick result; choose tough plants so that kids won’t accidentally kill them; and choose plants that have an interesting quality or purpose to keep kids fascinated by them.

Radishes take only 3 weeks to grow!

Step 2: Once you know what type of garden your kids want, decide with them how they want to start.

Growing plants from seeds can be very satisfying. If your kids want to do this, get peat-pots and seed packets from the garden center. Starting plants in peat-pots prevents transplant shock later on. Instead of having to transplant a seedling from a little pot to its new location, you can put the peat-pot directly into the ground and the seedling’s roots will push through as the peat pot dissolves.

What type of seeds to get? Does your kid want to try vegetables? Get him radish seeds because they will be ready to harvest in only three weeks. Does he like flowers but is afraid of being teased about it since he’s a boy? Get him sunflower seeds. The flowers are pretty, and he can claim he’s growing them to feed the birds with the eventual harvest. Too eager to wait for seeds to sprout? Get starter plants from your garden center: vegetables, herbs, or flowers.

Step 3: Does your kid want to get her hands dirty outside? Help her to prepare a garden plot outside. Pick a part of your land safe from dogs and strong winds, and exposed to 4 to 6 hours of sun. A south-facing spot is best. You want a level spot so that the water you lavish upon it won’t stream away down-slope, and you want a place close to the outside water tap so there is no problem keeping it watered.

Also consider your dirt. Few backyards have perfect dirt. Better to use a shovel or pick-axe to hollow out a garden pit maybe 6- to 12-inches deep, and then fill this area back up with bags of potting soil from your garden center. Another way to do this is to build a raised bed out of railroad ties or stones and fill that with potting soil. Plant your seeds or starter plants at the proper depth and spacing according to the package directions.

Step 4: Would your kid rather avoid dirt and bugs and sweat? No problem. Help her to start a container garden indoors. Get either the seeds/peat pots or the starter plants. Look for varieties of miniature vegetables that will do well in containers. Or try flowers and herbs, both of which thrive in containers.

You can play a game with your kids to find the weirdest container: anything goes as long as it allows drainage, and has a protective saucer underneath it so the surfaces in your house don’t get water-damage. People have grown plants in old straw hats, ashtrays, and even old toilets!

The gel from the aloe plant soothes sunburns.

Step 5: Choose plants that have interesting properties or purposes. This will motivate your kid to observe and interact with the plants even in the fully-grown maintenance phase. If your kid likes flowers, steer him towards scented ones that are fun to smell, or bright red ones that will attract hummingbirds and butterflies.

If your kid wants to grow vegetables, make sure he’s planted things that people want to eat. He will enjoy providing for the family table.

Does your kid like houseplants? Start him with something hard to kill like an aloe vera plant, and show him how to use the soothing gel inside its leaves to ease sunburn.

Herbs are a good choice both in the outside garden, and in containers in the house. Get your kid growing chives and basil, show him how to harvest the leaves for kid-favorite meals like spaghetti and pizza, and you might even get him interested in cooking!