How to Start a Child's Garden

Gardening is an ideal spring and summer activity for children. It teaches them responsibility, helps keep the brain active as they learn about plants, and is a lot of fun. In this article I'll give you some ideas about what kinds of plants are best to start with, and what kinds of gardening techniques children can easily learn.

First decide what will be planted and then section off a small area for your child's garden.

You and your child can decide how much space the first garden should be. If this is your child's first garden, I recommend sectioning off just a small area to serve as the child's special garden. It is better to start small so that your child isn't overwhelmed.

Easy plants for children new to gardening are radishes and onions. If your child is older, cherry tomatoes could be ideal. If your child would rather have a flower garden, you can buy marigold seeds or marigold plants from most garden shops. Marigolds are annuals and will need to be replanted next year, but they are resistant to many common garden pests and are easier to care for, in general, than petunias and similar flowers.

If you and your child would rather have perennials, consider a flower such as the peony. Peonies are also easy to care for and are beautiful.

You should avoid using pesticides in your child's garden. Children are much more vulnerable than adults to harmful chemicals. You can teach your child about helpful insects such as ladybugs, which help control aphids and other common garden pests.

Letting your child have a garden is a great way to teach her facts about the life cycle of insects and plants as well as the large variety of common garden insects (both beneficial and non-beneficial insects). Your child can learn to spot chew marks on leaves or other signs of insect infestation.

Mealy bugs, for instance, leave a distinctive white fuzzy casing on the underside of leaves. These can be removed by hand (preferably wearing gloves since they can be sticky). Aphids are small, pale bugs that are attracted to many garden plants. Planting marigolds near the garden is supposed to help discourage aphid infestation. Ladybugs enjoy aphids and if you've a bad aphid problem then you might want to buy some ladybugs from your local garden store ( or order them online).

Most older children can easily use adult-sized garden tools. Younger kids may do better if you can purchase garden tools designed for the child gardener. For added fun, you can let your child pick out her own watering can.

Your child should learn proper watering techniques. Most plants, such as tomatoes, shouldn't be watered in the heat of the afternoon. Water left on leaves with the sun beating down can scorch the leaves.If your child's garden is large, soaker hoses may be a better bet than a watering can. Soaker hoses are better than sprinklers in most cases.

Gardening is a fun activity that can give your child a sense of accomplishment and can help her learn positive skills. I've saved the most important tip for last: Gardening should be, most of all, fun! If your child sees gardening as a chore, she will probably not learn much. Make sure that it is presented as a fun activity. If the plants perish for some reason, don't make a big deal out of it. Not everyone has a green thumb and sometimes weather just won't cooperate.