Gardening 101: Get your child excited about gardening
As a family activity, gardening is more fun than most think. Gardening can, in fact, be a very rewarding hobby, especially for children.
If you’ve been encouraging your child to spend more time outdoors, gardening can be a great hobby, even for little children.
We have some tips to get your child’s hands muddy, and fingers green.
You don’t need to fork out lots of money
These days any child looking to start a hobby starts off by getting a basket full of gadgets and paraphernalia – with mom or dad fitting the bill. When it comes to gardening, a lot of the stuff is nice to have but not necessary. To start with, let your child stick with basic gardening tools and get better tools as your child’s garden grows, figuring out what would be helpful as your child needs it.
Let your child decide on what type of garden they want
One of the biggest determining factors to what type of garden your child is going to have is the type of yard or space you are working with. For many people on rented property or properties without a garden, container gardening is the simplest choice for children. Your child should also decide what they want to grow. While your child can grow edible and decorative plants at the same time, you as a parent need to make sure the chemicals or products your child is using are suitable for edible plants and will not grow toxic food.
Get to know the plants your child is planting
Gardening by trial and error can be painful. Watching as your child’s plants die or struggle despite all of their best efforts is horror-movie-worthy stuff. A little research and preparation can go a long way to keeping your child’s garden and their heart intact. Read about the plants your child is interested in and pay special attention to the type of soil they need and how much and how often they need to be watered, then help them prepare accordingly. Make sure that plants that are planted together share the same soil, sun, watering and nutritional needs.
Yes, your child will get dirty!
Even with all the gadgets available, if your child is working in the garden, they’re going to get a bit of dirt under their nails. This may be a deal-breaker if your child is afraid of getting dirty (some children don’t like dirt). Wearing gardening gloves while your child works is ok when they prune their plants and water them, but to feel the texture and the moisture in the soil (and your child will have to do this) they’re going to have to use their bare hands.
First, do no harm
Gardening sounds like a very eco-friendly hobby until your child starts planting invasive plants and using toxic chemicals to grow their plants and stop them from being eaten by bugs. Ignorance can make your child’s gardening a hazard to the soil, the environment, the animals, the birds, and the insects, so do your research first. Also, ensure your child only plants greenery that is indigenous to South Africa. It is also important to make sure you do not have poisonous plants near small children and pets.
