Gardening is a fantastic hobby. You don't need to be a plant expert and it really doesn't need to be a chore, so Jean Vernon, Gardening Correspondent for The Daily Telegraph and Lechuza have come up with some top tips to help you enjoy gardening with little ones!

Home and Garden on Female First

Home and Garden on Female First

The great outdoors is a wonderful, educational playground for children. It's a place to play and learn and the perfect environment for them to bond with nature. Early, happy and fun associations formed with plants and gardens stay with a child for life (look at me! I made a career out of it).

Container gardening is the perfect place to start, however big or small your plot. Lechuza planters are designed to take the confusion out of watering, feeding and growing. Just add plants and water and you'll have months and months of fun. They are well-made, thoughtfully designed and great quality too. Here are my top tips for fun with little green fingers.

  1. Sowing from seeds is fun but it's slow. If gardening doesn't come naturally to you then buy ready grown plants to save time and ensure success. Little ones want to see results fast. So plant larger 'garden ready' plants in your planter.
  2. Make it fun. Choose things to grow that they love to eat, grow flowers that attract butterflies or plants that smell nice such as herbs. Some plants like mint can be all of those things and more.
  3. Help children to grow food for their pets, such as fresh salad for rabbits and guinea pigs. A packet of lettuce seed will grow hundreds of plants, so sow a few seeds each week or fortnight and plant into your planter when they are large enough to handle.
  4. Have a garden party with the children and their friends. Buy some plants and compost and help them all to plant and grow together. It's nice for children to have friends to share their new hobby with so that they can play and plant together.
  5. Give them their own planter that is theirs to care for. Oversee but try not to interfere. 'Crop failures' happen, even to experts. Choose easy plants for the next adventure and learn from mistakes.
  6. Add a few toys to the mix. You can tie plastic toys to bamboo canes as cane toppers and push them into the compost to brighten things up or to mark where you've planted bulbs.
  7. Let children help to water. The Lechuza planters are ideal for growing plants outside. Remove the drainage plug underneath and they can't be overwatered. The integral water reservoir ensures they are watered if you are away or the planters are neglected or forgotten for some reason.
  8. If gardening is not your 'thing' then team them up with someone who knows a bit more, so that they can share their passion. Maybe they have an aunt, a grandparent or a close friend who would make a good garden buddy.
  9. Children love to help, buy them some fun and functional gardening toys that so that they can copy mum and dad in the garden. There are lots of kiddie's tools; watering cans and the all-essential pint sized gardening gloves available in garden centres.
  10. Don't be scared of letting them get their hands dirty. If you use fresh-bagged compost from the garden centre it should be clean and sterilised.

Visit www.lechuza.co.uk for an exciting array of self-watering planters to suit any space, taste or budget which are perfect for gardening with children.

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