Mar 31 2007

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Google News Alert for: gardening

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/lifestyle/gardening/tm_headline=gardening-it-s-child-s-play&method=full&objectid=18841416&siteid=50081-name_page.html

Gardening it’s child’s play

By Hannah Stephenson, The Journal

 

“Blue Peter resident gardener Chris Collins – presenter of BBC Two’s The Plantsman and Garden Rivals on UKTV – reckons there’s nothing that can engage children more than getting their hands dirty.

He said: “Easter is a time when you look out at the garden and you notice the mess – you want to get out there and tidy it up, especially with the weather we’ve been having. You should allocate a bit of the garden to the kids in two stages, and you can do that over the long Easter weekend so the whole family is involved. Go on a drive or take the train to go and have a look at other gardens, or a coastal area, or a woodland area, and fuel the kids’ imaginations to see how they can recreate it in the garden.”

Collins is backing a Royal Horticultural Society campaign to “Get Schools Growing“, reintroducing children to the art of growing and encouraging them back into the garden.”

“Schools need to fill in a questionnaire to enter a competition to win support from RHS gardening experts to develop a new growing space in their school, plus £500 of gardening resources. Collins will be working with one of three winning schools to help make their ideas come to life. To enter the competition, go to www.rhs.org.uk/schoolgarden. Closing date for entries is April 13.

Collins says it’s important to let the children decide what sort of garden they want. After allocating a section of garden to their children, parents should help them design a plot – without taking over.

He said: “For instance, the child might want a fairy garden with some tree stumps, some ferns and somewhere to sit.

“Put some stuff in there which will get frogs interested, maybe a little butyl liner with some soil in the base. Fill it with water and it should get newts and other wildlife in it.”

If children want to plant permanent fixtures, Collins suggests robust shrubs such as ceanothus, escallonia and mahonias, spireas and potentillas – shrubs that will withstand a fair battering and still survive.

He also recommends getting the children to plant summer bedding when the chance of frost has passed – providing vibrant colour and requiring regular watering – which can be done by the young ones to promote the nurturing aspect of gardening.

Encouraging the young ones to get their hands dirty is the way to absorb them, he insists.

He added: “When someone is talking about something technical or complicated, I lose interest very quickly. Now that kids have got so many things to choose from they become easily distracted. But you hook them when you get them physically involved in it.

“The other week, I had five kids carrying a railway sleeper for Garden Busters on Blue Peter – and they were so excited about it.

“I also recently did some work for the Potato Council and had the kids touching the soil and putting the potatoes in the ground and they were totally absorbed.

“If they see a little bit of success, it will encourage them to carry on.”

MY COMMENT

I appreciate this initiative very much.  Together with UNICEF ALGERIA we want to set up a number of school gardens in the refugee camps of the Sahraouis people (S.W. Algeria).

Of course, our problems will be completely different, as the main problem we want to solve is production of fresh food for those kids at school.   Nevertheless, I am convinced that it will be very rewarding to get the school children involved in the schoolgarden programme.

I will report on our progress on this blog.

Willem