My Very Own Garden
A garden design for children ages 5 and up.

Help your child plan and plant this miniature garden but 
let them be the primary gardeners. 
Annual flowers are easiest to take care of and can be purchased  inexpensively by the flat. Although seeds are the 
least expensive, it may be harder for kids to be patient.

PLAN
Let your child design and plot the shape of his/her garden.
A 4x4 foot rectangle is the easy to dig and small enough to
maintain. A border garden works well, as long as your child can reach the back row. If you already have an existing garden, you could give your child a corner or raised bed of their very own. I've even seen a small heart shaped garden of marigolds. Our circular plan (below) is five feet in diameter with a one foot bisecting path. This makes weeding and cutting easier.
 


Draw his/her ideas together on piece of paper. I'm not the type to over plan my garden with graph paper, etc. I do 
recommend planning which flowers to plant. 
Does your child want a fragrant garden? A garden for cutting flowers? Would they like to combine flowers with vegetables?

Low maintenance flowers like petunia, pansy, marigold, allysum, snapdragon, daisy and cosmos are a great start.
A garden book with color pictures will be a big help.

Then a trip to the nursery is in order. 

After your plants are purchased it's time to dig, turn the soil
and plant. Most kids need help with the spacing and watering the first time. Like goldfish----kids tend to over feed and water their new gardens. After a while you will need to give a lesson on weeds. Many weeds are flowering and pretty, but will choke a new plant.
Pesticides are NOT recommended for children's gardens.
Ask your local nursery for natural pest removal tips --
Lady bugs remove aphids, rolled newspaper for earwigs etc.


Kids Gardening Page