A bug's life: gardening with toddlers
The great thing about small children is they don’t have the same fears as adults when it comes to creepy crawlies, bugs and insects. In fact they relish in watching ear wigs scurrying around or watching a sunflower grow. It’s a great idea to introduce your children to the outside world at a young age as you will foster their love for the garden and hopefully encourage them to have green fingers as they grow.
On a basic level, when children, toddlers especially, have a good run around in the garden they let off a bit of energy, have a healthy glow and sleep much better at night after an active day. To encourage your child to play in the garden is adding to her general wellbeing and health. It also means she won’t be constantly nagging; ‘can I put the TV on mummy…!’
However big or small your garden is it can seem like a treasure trove for excited children. First though, you must make sure your garden is safe for young children:
Here are some plants which can cause tummy aches, vomiting and sickness if digested:
Aloe barbadensis Aloe Vera, Burn plant
Amaryllis sp. Amaryllis
Anthurium andraeanum Flamingo lily
Caladium hortulanum Angels' wings
Chrysanthemum indicum Chrysanthemums, Mums
Clivia miniata Kaffir Lily
Codiaeum variegatum Croton
Cyclamen persicum Cyclamen
Datura innoxia Angel's Trumpet
Dieffenbachia sp. Dumb cane
Euphorbia milii Crown-of-thorns
Euphorbia pulcherrima Poinsettia (yes, it belongs here)
Hedera helix English Ivy
Hydrangea macrophylla Hydrangea
Kalanchoe daigremontiana Devil's Backbone
Monstera deliciosa Ceriman, Swiss-cheese plant
Philodendron sp. Heart leaf philodendron, Philodendron
Rhododendron sp. Azalea
Solanum pseudocapsicum Jerusalem Cherry
There is no need to suddenly rip down all the beautiful Ivy from the front of your house, better to tell your toddler that she shouldn’t touch it because it will make her stomach sick. Try to encourage your child to wash her hands after playing in the garden anyway just in case she has touched any slugs or snails or plants that could cause her to have a tummy ache.
Introducing your kids to gardening
Children of any age, even babies love to be out in the garden, watering can in hand helping mum and dad with the gardening. Here are some suggestions for some easy plants to grow in your garden:
Forget-me-nots (Myosotis)
Forget-me-nots have either pink, blue or white flowers and look lovely in the garden. They love well-drained soil, a shady patch and should be planted in early spring. (Be careful, these flowers are wild and can take over your garden!)
Primrose (Primula vulgaris)
Primroses are lovely wildflowers that flower in a pale yellow colour. Again they are best planted in early spring and they like a rich humus soil and prefer cool temperatures. Primroses can also be grown indoors in pots (ideal for children to plant if you don’t have a garden) as long as you can provide them with a cool night temperature of 50-60 degrees. Daytime temperatures must remain below 80 degrees. Once they have bloomed and flowered they can be either planted outside, or their pots placed outdoors for the warmer summer months.
Sunflowers
All kids love the look of sunflowers and their size means they can handle them easily. You can plant the sunflower seed directly where you want the sunflower to grow, but for the best start, plant in pots. Sow your sunflowers in a three-inch pot and sow them two inches down. When they are big enough you can plant them outside. When buying the seed, make sure you look for seeds with the words ‘giant’ or ‘tall’ on them so that you get the sunflowers with tall stems and large flowers. Plant your sunflower in fertile cultivated soil and ideally plant in April. Protect your sunflower from slugs as soon as possible and liquid feed your sunflower regularly. Sunflowers thrive in direct sunlight so make sure you consider where to place your sunflower carefully. Sunflowers attract bees as they provide hive bees with plenty of nectar.
MUM'S TIP - why not give each of your children a handful of sunflower seeds to plant and have a sunflower race to see whose sunflower grows the tallest!
Lavender (Lavendula)
Lavender plants produce white, pink, blue or purple aromatic flowers during the summer months. The great thing about lavender is that you can grow lots of it and then make lavender bags with your kids! Lavender is not only loved by gardeners, but also by bees. Lavender is best grown from plants rather than seeds and it is important to make sure your soil has good drainage so that the lavender roots don’t get too waterlogged. Lavender plants should be planted in April and May and pruned back when they start to grow. Lavender also grows well in containers, but they need large pots as they have long, deep roots. Use a soil-based compost and ensure good drainage. Keep them regularly watered in the summer months.
Poppies
Poppies come in many different colours and varieties and are as common in people’s garden as they are in fields. Poppies are best grown from seed and can be sown directly into the garden are started indoors in pots. You should plant your Poppy seeds indoors about six weeks before the last frost, then transplant them into the garden when they are still quite small. If you want to plant poppies directly into the garden, a light sprinkling of seeds into the flowerbed should be sufficient. You only need to keep the soil lightly watered and if it has rained in the last week, you won’t need too.
Butterfly gardens
Encouraging butterflies into your garden can be fabulous for children. Here are some butterfly friendly plants for you to grow:
Butterfly Bush (Buddleja daviii)
This plant sprouts beautiful tiny flowers in purple, white, pink and red and butterflies love it!
Sweet Rocket (Hesperis matronalis)
This is a lovely scented plan that produces violet, red and purple flowers
Growing herbs
Growing herbs is a fantastic way to introduce gardening to children, especially since they can eventually eat what they have grown. The advantage of growing herbs is that they grow very quickly so children will see the results of their hard work in no time. They are also ideal if you don’t have a garden as they can be grown in window boxes or pots indoors.
Basil
Basil is a good herb to start with if you are a beginner gardener and it can be grown inside or out. Basil can be grown from seed and is best planted from March to June. Use ordinary compost in a pot and place in about 8-10 basil seeds. Cover lightly with cling film until seedlings appear then uncover and move to a sunny windowsill. After about five weeks you can re plant each seedling in it’s own pot or put outside in a sunny position. Basil doesn’t like water on it’s leaves so remember to water from below.
Mint
Mint is a great herb to grow in the garden and of course smells wonderful! Once it is grown you can encourage your child to pick it and make mint sauce for your roast lamb! Mint can be grown from seed or you can buy young plants to re plant at home. Mint prefers to be grown in soil that is well moistured and should be placed in a shady area. Mint needs little looking after but do remove any flowers that appear so that the plant keeps producing leaves right through until the autumn.
Chives
Chives are great to grow as they are easy to grow and great in potato salad! They’ll grow in almost any soil and love either full sun or partial shade. They can be grown from seed, ideally from April onwards. The seeds can be scattered over a well-prepared bed and seedlings will appear within 2 weeks. You can basically leave chives to grow as they need very little attention except for a little water if it gets very dry. Once your chives have grown you can snip them with scissors and use them in salads or put them on jacket potato – yum! Chives can be grown in containers too. Sow your seeds as you would outside but place them in a container indoors. Again they need little care but keep the soil nice and moist.
Cress
Children love growing cress and cress can grow in most places. You can then make up lovely egg and cress sandwiches with your child. Because cress grows anywhere you can make it fun to grow. Once your child has finished eating a boiled egg, get them to decorate the eggshell carefully with paint (try not to break it!) then place it in an egg cup and put cotton wool inside the egg cup. Sprinkle your cress seeds on top of the cotton wool. Place on a windowsill that has lots of sunlight and get your child to water daily. Within two weeks your cress will grow and your child can give the cress a hair cut!
Ideas for gardening with kids:
- Why not buy each of your children a planter pot so that they have their own individual pots to look after and choose what to plant in each.
- Why not grow pumpkins and orange pansies for Halloween, snapdragons for children who like dragons and Chinese lanterns for a pretty garden.
Growing fruit and veg
Growing fruit will take more time and even more patience; something children don’t have a lot of, but luckily the results will be delightful for all children.
The best fruits and vegetables to plant are those with a short growing season so you can see the results quickly. Cucumbers, lettuce, green beans and peas are ideal as they don’t take too long to grow. One of the best things to grow is a tomato plant, which can be grown in pots on your patio. All kids love apples, but waiting for a tree to grow can take ages!
- Why not visit a local orchard so that your children can pick the apples from the tree – this will also help them to learn about how apples grow and where they come from (I.e not the supermarket!). Strawberries are also a fun fruit for your child to help you grow and can be eventually enjoyed by all!
Strawberries don’t take up much room so are ideal for small gardens. Plant your strawberry plants every 35cm apart and water well. You may have to put a net over your plants to prevent birds and squirrels from eating the strawberries.
Playing in the garden is so much fun, but make sure you read up on what to do if your child gets bitten or stung by an insect.
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Mothercare
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