Gardening with Children: Kid-Friendly Summer Landscaping

Including your kids into your landscaping efforts is a great family project. You can create something together your child will be proud of and you could quite possibly nourish a love for nature that will remain with your child long after your project is complete. Before you take on a landscaping project involving children, there are a few things to keep in mind: Safety issues to consider and ways to keep your child interested.

How old is your child? A child's age and size can determine the level of participation they can provide. The younger or smaller the child, the more you will need to have a variety of simple, light-weight projects they can complete in an hour or less. This stops the work before they lose interest and by keeping the tasks light-weight, the child can accomplish the task and gain skill at the same time. Even children as young as two can have fun gardening with Mommy and Daddy. You just have to scale the job to the age and size of the child.

Is the plant kid-friendly? This is a major consideration not only for children but for pets. There are certain plants which can be very dangerous for children to be around. These can include working with thorny plants like Pyracantha, Barberry, Washington hawthorns and even roses. However, some plants are also highly toxic and should never be included in projects with children. Even having these in your yard can be dangerous to your child's health. Ann King Filmer, Ph. D, put out a web page, "Know Your Plants... Safe or Poisonous?", which gives links to both Toxic Plants and Safe Plants. This can be indispensable when planning projects for your kids. Some safe plants kids may like include: Zinnia, Viburnum, Nasturtium, Hibiscus, Dahlia, Coreopsis, Butterfly bush, Bee balm and Bachelor's button.

Which chemicals can you use around kids? Organic gardening is the safest way to go, particularly when dealing with children. There are numerous ways to both fertilize and rid your garden of pests that do not require you to subject your child to chemicals. The article, "How to Start a Compost Pile when You're Lazy or Inept", gives you an easy way to compost, allowing you to teach a child about recycling green garbage and improve the soil, yet it provides a technique easy enough for a child to help with. Your local nursery should have information on which products are safe around children and pets.

Armed with the above information, you're ready to landscape with your children. One thing to remember is children love to feel a sense of accomplishment, particularly in the age range of two to five; the child takes great pride in "doing it all by myself".

1) Selecting plants together:

There can be several activities built around this task. Spend a few days looking at magazines or nursery catalogs together, letting the child circle the flowers they like the best. You'll begin to get a good idea what the child likes both in color and style.

Take the child to the nursery with you, showing them a selection of their favorite plants they can buy in small pots. Tell them how many they can select and let them pick out which ones they want. By giving them the selection in the first place, you get to control this process, but you also allow them the freedom to make the final selection from the given choices.

Seed packets are another great way to include your child in the plant selection process. If you don't see their favorite in a potted plant or need to go a less expensive route, buying seed packets are the way to go. Again, give them a choice and let them make the final decision.

2) Creating their secret garden:

Children love having their very own spot in a garden. Including this as a small portion of a larger perennial bed or a small portion in your vegetable garden, keeps them near you while you're gardening, but still allows them to have their own spot.

Let them be creative in their garden spot, including decorating it. Several content producers have written articles on garden art, including using recycled materials around the house. K. Taylor's, "Garden Stones from a Pizza Box" is a great one for the kids, allowing them to decorate their own garden stones or markers for their spot in the garden. Making garden art together can be a great project that can add a bit of whimsy to your garden.

3) Give them their own tools:

A beach bucket makes a great gardening container for children. This can be decorated with their name on it and should contain their gardening gloves, a trowel and a small hand rake. Keeping their tools in this bucket teaches them care for their tools and protects yours from mysteriously vanishing.

A child's wagon is a great way to move plants or potting soil around the yard. It is also much easier for kids than working with a wheel barrow.

4) Teach kids to garden:

Landscaping with your children should be a fun experience for both of you. It is an opportunity for kids to learn about life. Plants grow and need nurturing just like people do and need food and water. There are interesting critters like worms and ladybugs, beneficial to your plants and plants attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds.

A tip for teaching kids to plant: Show them once, do it with them twice, watch them do it themselves. Help them when asked or you see them becoming too frustrated but let them make mistakes. It doesn't have to be perfect. If you remember a weed growing in the middle of a sidewalk, you'll see how forgiving plants can be.

In all these summer landscaping projects for kids, if you stay relaxed and enjoy the process, your kids will too. Best of all, you'll be creating something lovely you can all enjoy throughout the summer.

Additional Sources:

"Garden Stones from a Pizza Box" by K. Taylor
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/25882/garden_stones_from_a_pizza_box.html?cat=30

"How to Start a Compost Pile when You're Lazy or Inept" by Charlene S Noto
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/767353/how_to_start_a_compost_pile_when_youre.html?cat=32

"Know Your Plants...Safe or Poisonous?" by Ann King Filmer, Ph. D.
http://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/ce/king/PoisPlant/