Children are spending more time in front of screens than ever before. How can you lure your spouse and your kids into the garden for some quality, media-free time? One of the most effective ways to engage your family and get them to enjoy nature’s beauty while creating something beautiful is to have them help you design a fabulous garden.
Plant a Giant Garden
Children love giant plants, and they do not need as much space as you might think. If you know the right plants to use, you can make any area look larger. We recommend using a shady area of about four meters by two meters in size with soil that is well-drained but moisture retentive.
Buy the following plants: gunnera manicata, Cordyline australis “red star” and “Variegata,” astilbe arendsii, and Fatsia japonica. A stunning way to display your plants is to incorporate a giant outdoor water fountain into your garden. Then add the plants in their pots or in the ground around the outside of it. For the biggest leaves, the gunners should be planted in bog garden conditions since the roots need a lot of moisture. All of the plants are fairly hardy, except the red-leaved cordylines, which you will want to wrap in the winter in colder areas.
Build a Checkerboard Garden
A playful and stylish checkerboard garden is the perfect way to cater to children’s games. This project takes about half a day and requires a spade, level, tape measure, hose, mallet, trowel, and rake. You will also want to buy topsoil, mortar, twine, grass, pavers, sand, and planks. First, you need to clear the area of grass and weeds. Then, compact the soil by standing on the planks. Measure the squares and create a grid using twine. Add flattened sand and mortar to the paver squares, and add topsoil to the grass or creeping thyme squares. Water the new plants thoroughly, and let the children play.
Plant a Butterfly Garden
Children love finding butterflies in the garden. You can attract these pollinating insects with sedum, aster amellus “King George,” solidago “Golden Wings,” rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii, and other simple, single flowers that produce plenty of nectar. These should be planted in a roughly three meters by three meters area that is sheltered in full sun and is well-drained but moisture retentive. Once you have planted the flowers, for the first few months, you should keep the plants well-watered so the roots can get established.
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