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Have any of you successfully made your children start gardening?

enderberserker6xGDqDhkenderberserker6xGDqDhk Posts: 1
in Problem solving
I want my children to start gardening and I was wondering if any of you have successfully done so. What types of things did you do to encourage them. I am mostly worried about the waiting time for the crops to grow since they are quite active, as all kids are, and they wont remember to tend to the garden when needed.
Anyone here have any solutions or personal experience with this?
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  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    My children had their own little flower beds and I gave them seeds to sow in them. I have always been keen on gardening and grew flowers, especially roses and vegetables as soon as I married and we bought our first house.

    Then we moved away from London to the country near a village which had a gardeners club and shows in the village hall each year. There were always classes for children. My children entered the miniature garden classes, the animals made from vegetables and a flower arrangement. Sometimes they won prizes.

    Then we moved to France. We bought a house that needed renovation and the garden needed making from scratch. The children helped and got quite keen.

    Now they are all married, still in France, and have their own houses with gardens. Daughter 1 has planted over 90 roses over the last 3 years, underplanted with perennials and she has made a vegetable garden. Daughter 2 has planted shrub beds and has just dug a new flower bed. Both sons grow vegetables and have chickens.

    I think if you love gardening and involve them from the first snowdrop to the last Michaelmas Daisy they will become interested. They don't need to do things all the time, just be aware of nature, plants and seasons - even feeding birds in the winter can help.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    I have two boys, six and ten.  They go to the garden center with me every spring and choose a few packets of seeds and a few live plants.  They always end up with a mix of flowers and vegetables.  Sunflower seeds, broccoli plants, petunia plants, pea seeds, etc.  They do the planting.. but I do the tending and watering, etc.  They help water and weed occasionally, but it's not a 'chore' I have given them.  They are always so proud to harvest and help prepare their vegetable.

    I tried a few years ago giving my oldest a section of a raised bed as his own.. but he lost interest before the area was half planted.  He asked the following year to grow pollinator flowers for insects.. so we dug up a bit of grass and sowed some mixes of open pollination flowers.  I do the weeding, and it is watered by the lawn sprinkler once seeds have germinated.  Again, I do most of the work.. but he chooses the seeds, does the sowing, and watches them grow and change across the year.. and feels a sense of ownership.  

    The boys help out here and there, either by volunteering while I am doing the task or because I asked them to help.  Pruning bushes and dragging off the brush, picking up sticks, raking leaves, etc.  It's a mother/sons activity.  
    Utah, USA.
  • Mrs-B3-Southampton,-HantsMrs-B3-Southampton,-Hants Posts: 732

    I am the youngest of 4 and we each had a plot. Mine was the small odd shaped one. As each sibling got older I was the only one who wanted to take on their 'garden'.

    Mum grew food out of necessity. Dad mowed the lawn. cut the hedges and pitched in when needed but only cos he had to.

    Grown up now (by a decade or two) I grow 'easy' fruit like raspberries but mostly shrubs and flowers.

    When young I hated to be told to weed - now I get satisfaction in seeing a clear area and a full bucket.

    One thing that stands out is my dad taking into work punnets of strawberries, sold to order and I got the money because I had grown them.

    With my elder granddaughter we gave her all sorts of encouragement, even rushing her to the Garden Club at the library straight after school. She'll be 11 this week and other than asking to cut flowers or eat fruit I can't remember the last time she gardened.


    To sum up - you've got or you haven't but PLEASE never tell them they  have to.


    Southampton 
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Growing simple things like cress in the kitchen, germinating beans in a jar, growing quick things like radishes, or exciting things like giant sunflowers can get them involved. I personally think that if you are passionate and excited, hopping about, they will want to be part of it. Observing bugs and making habitats and animal dens can help. Getting a cheap trail cam and bord boxes might be exciting too.
  • Mike AllenMike Allen Posts: 208
    Both of my two daughters are now in their mid 50's.  Both very keen gardeners.  I learned years ago what I have always considered good advice.  When a child asks a question, then give an easily understood reply.  So spending time with the children, in the garden and the countryside.  I would point out plants, trees etc.  Soon I would be bombarded with lots of questions.  Dad.  What's this flower and so on.
    Over time, we have all discovered that, scuse the pun, flowers grow on you.  So for the girls to gain knowledge of plants and gardening, they learned at their pace.  Even now though.  Dad, what's this plant?
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    You cannot 'make' them garden but you can share your love and excitement about gardening, as suggested above. Sometimes, you have to wait quite a long time: my daughter is becoming genuinely interested, now, after all my encouragement - but she is 35!
  • HomemadeLookHomemadeLook Posts: 16
    My oldest son is very competitive and is only interested if it's a competition so we have a sunflower or pumpkin competition most years.
    The younger one actually enjoys growing things and spending time with me and has his own section of the flower bed. I let him buy a couple of packets of seeds even if they completely clash with my colour scheme 😏. I do weed and water his bit sometimes as I don't want to see the plants die but he does a lot of it himself
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I find the title of this thread a bit odd.
    You can't 'make them' start, or enjoy, gardening. You can encourage them - by doing things they can manage  easily. Sowing seeds at the right time which will germinate quickly for example, and having a  nice little patch of their own to play about with, but you have to accept that they're children. They'll lose interest very quickly if they don't enjoy it. As they do with anything. Simple  :)  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb Posts: 819
    It's hard to start out at this time of year but, if you have the space, could they pick a tree that's for them? Ornamental or fruit, it doesn't really matter. You can even buy a "family" apple tree with several different varieties on the one plant. 

    Plant bulbs in pots or borders. Garden centres may still have a few bulbs for indoor forcing, giving a relatively quick reward.

    Grow on the cut of tops of carrots and parsnips in a saucer of water in the kitchen to prompt discussion.

    Could they make a mini garden in a seed tray or collection or display a collection of flowers in a tea cup. Could you start putting jam jar arrangements in their bedrooms? This is something I've done with mine.

    Get out into parks and woods and try to identify the trees. 

    I strongly believe gardening goes hand in hand with a love of nature. Perhaps start with collecting leaves and making a display or creating pictures with them? Plenty of animal shape templates online that you can print off and Take long, pliable stems of willow and weave them into a wreath that can be decorated with holly, hips, berries and anything else they like. Make fat balls/suet treats for birds - recipes online. Build a bird box, a twig and log pile for invertebrates and small mammals, drill a brick or log to make holes for solitary bees.

    This RHS page may help with project ideas https://schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk/resources

  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    I should have added that children often love to work with you, not on a tiny plot on their own, hidden away from sight!  They may slow you down, do things slowly and badly - it doesn't matter.  They must be more important than the task in hand and enjoy doing it. They don't need criticising and scolding, but they respond to encouragement and praise. Show the family, remember they planted the pea/peas you are eating. It has to be fun.
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