Family Landscaping Projects that Children Can Take Pride In

Children love to do hands on projects. The best way to teach them to respect their environment is to have them take part in the care and upkeep of it. Here are a few ideas to involve your child in your home landscaping projects.

"I want to help" - If you have young children you have heard these words. Hands on activities are a great way to teach youngsters. Let them help. When trimming and shaping the trees, bushes and shrubs in your yard give them a job. They will be in a location you assign to them, safe from any tools and happy that they are working with you. Protect little hands with gloves and instruct them to carry small twigs, branches etc. to a wheelbarrow or pile that gets the material out from under the bushes you are working on. Take time to explain to them what kind of shrub you are working on. Tell them that the Spirea Bush came from their grandparents former home. They need to know why you care about the plantings you have. When my children were little they would accompany me out into the yard while I trimmed bushes and planted annuals. I will never forget the pride in my 3 year old son's voice when he came into the house one day, "I fixted your rosebush Mama." Oh, he sure did. He hacked it to the ground after watching me at work on a spirea bush. He had gotten the gist of trimming but he didn't get the lesson on which bushes to trim back. My finally established, one time blooming gorgeous rosebush, my only rosebush was in pieces. I had not taught him what things needed to be left alone to grow and be pretty yet. Result: one very dead rosebush. Kids are very bright, teach them more than you think they will learn. You'll be surprised.

Kiddo friendly flower bed - Choose a place for an annual flower bed that has easy access for your children. Two and three year olds can help dig holes with a garden trowel. They can fill it with a cup of compost and stir it into the soil. They can easily pull seedlings out of packs from the local greenhouse or discount store. Supervise them as they place the seedlings root ball down into the hole and help them sink it in, spread soil around the roots carefully then firmly cover it up and pat soil in place. Remember, this is for enjoyment and a chance to learn. If you have this on a strict time schedule or you are critical of what they are doing it will not be a wonderful experience for all of you. Relax, soak in this time with these precious little ones. There is so much they want to learn from you. Giving them the gift of working with the earth and making their corner of it beautiful is an amazing thing. What you share today will be remembered. One day they could be on their knees teaching other little ones to love this gift as you taught them. It does not have to be perfect. It is theirs. Don't decide you will go back in later and re-do it. Teach them how to plant correctly in a quiet, loving voice and attitude. Share with them the specialties of the kinds of plants you've chosen.
Teach them that it takes perpetual care for the plants to flourish and grow. They will never forget the experience. Great, sturdy annuals to plant with very young children are marigolds, petunias and geraniums. Alyssum is an awesome 'fluffy' filler that will spread out giving a great border and intense fragrance. You could talk to them about the strength a marigolds has. They are tough and will be one of the longest living plants for the summer and fall and can survive light frosts. They also ward off insects that will chew on vegetable plants. Have fun with this project. When completed the children can spend time and energy finding pretty rocks to surround this flower bed and explain the significance of making a border to keep people from trampling their pretty flowers. This experience will take time and patience.

Landscaping decorations - Go for a nature walk with your children. Let them gather one thing each that will look nice in the landscape of your property. One may find a strangely shaped stone, another a piece of weathered wood that would fit perfectly in the corner of the deck. Ask that child, what potted flower would look nice with that piece of wood in front of it? Get them thinking about the theme of your landscaping and what would work with it. Should you take an old enamel coffeepot you both find at a yard sale and fill it with a cascading plant to set near the mailbox post? You'll be surprised what your child's imagination can do to highlight the look of your yard and home. An old rustic bucket lain on it side makes a great effect with flowers planted inside and on the area in front of it. It looks like the bucket of flowers has spilled. Using imagination if the plants are all shades of blue perhaps your child can see that a friendly giant has dropped his cup of water. Think outside the box with children. If dinosaurs are a big deal in your child's life right now why not arrange stones to look like Dino prints in the back yard. Short ground cover type plantings could create the Dino effect too. Got a great area to plant flowers? Make a 'river' of flowers with scattered rocks for a broken border line. Plant flowers to look like the shape of a brook or river in your flower bed. Maybe you have a garden frog that will be cute nestled to one side. Imagination is endless and kids have great ones. Share a story with your kids as you add to the landscape. Have you found and embedded rustic wagon wheels? Get the kids to help plant rambling rosebushes and talk about the journey of the wagon that needed the wheels. Perhaps the mother in the wagon traveled with a piece of her Mama's rosebush across the wilderness. Kids love to connect things with ideas that can feel real. Have fun, involve your children and grandchildren. They will respect the landscape of your home if they understand the hard work involved. They need to know it belongs to them too.