University of Vermont Extension
Department of Plant and Soil Science
Fall News
Article
INTRODUCING CHILDREN TO FALL GARDENING
FUN
Dr. Leonard Perry
Extension Professor, University of Vermont
Gertrude Jekyll, the celebrated English
garden writer, thought so much of introducing children to the joy of
gardening that she devoted a classic
1908 book, Children and Gardens, to the subject. In it she suggested that "...autumn is
the time to plant little gardens."
Many parents find gardening an excellent
way to spend quality time with their children, teach lessons such as
environmental awareness and the workings of nature, and have a liberal dose of
good old-fashioned family fun. Jekyll
had an additional thought. She felt that
it was not so much the vegetable or flower garden but the pure fun of digging
in the dirt that was the real key to instilling an interest in gardening in
children. Fall, with its many garden
tasks, offers plenty of this kind of fun.
Raking leaves into piles, for example, is work to an adult but can be
satisfying for a child.
Planting is another pleasant chore for
young and old. Autumn is the season to
plant trees, turf grasses, and spring-blooming flower bulbs such as tulips,
daffodils, hyacinths, and crocuses.
Children will especially have fun with "naturalizing," the
planting of bulbs to achieve a natural look.
It's easy to do. Just grab a
handful of bulbs, toss them out on the target area, and plant them where they
fall.
Fall is also the season to reseed the
lawn, fix bare spots, or even renovate the entire lawn. Although a full-scale renovation is probably
not a job for children, reseeding small areas can be
fun
for them. Their active participation in
the process may help parents convince them to stay off newly seeded areas, thus
giving the new grass a chance.
In her writings, Jekyll suggested that
children begin their gardening experience by helping their parents tend to
existing plantings. Later, they should
be given a spot of their own in which to create a small garden. She advised her readers not to put the
children's garden in a marginal area or back corner but to give them a prime
location where they can take pride in showing off their accomplishments.
Jekyll
also firmly stated that "...children should be provided with proper
tools." In her day, acceptable
implements had to be custom-made by clever country blacksmiths. Today, child-sized tools including trowels,
spades, rakes, hoes, blunt weeding tools, small wheel barrows, and baskets for
weeding and harvesting, are available through mail order catalogs or many
garden centers. You may want to buy now
for gift giving this Christmas.
Of course, fall with its apple picking,
pumpkin carving, and many outdoor activities is only the beginning of gardening
as a family. Come spring, when you are
enjoying your new lawn or spring-flowering bulbs, take time to involve your
children in planning and planting the flower and vegetable garden.
Gertrude Jekyll, thinking back to her own
youth, wrote that she thought at that time there were "...only two types
of people in the world--children and grown-ups--and that the world really
belonged to children. And I think it is
because I have been more or less a gardener all my life that I still feel like
a child in many ways."
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