Garden Talk: Getting Kids Interested In Gardening

Air Date:
Heard On The Larry Meiller Show
Girl Looking at Flowers
Peter Lee (CC-CY-NC)

There are many benefits that come from getting kids interested in gardening – such as having them actually eat their vegetables! Our guest from the Rotary Botanical Gardens will give us some tips on helping children to start gardening. He will also answer your gardening questions.

Featured in this Show

  • Horticulturist: Start Children Gardening When They Are Young

    It’s never too early to start children participating in gardening, according to a Wisconsin horticulturist.

    In terms of first steps, a small container garden is a good choice for youngsters, said Mark Dwyer, director of horticulture at the Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville, Wisconsin.

    “Let them have their own little tomato plant that they can grow and nurture from a little seedling to picking the produce and eating it,” said Dwyer.

    That early connection can create a gardener for life, he said. It can also create future stewards of our environment.

    Many children are losing their connection to nature because of all the activities that keep them indoors, Dwyer said. He suggests that adults allow children to participate fully in the project from deciding what to grow to helping to care for the plants.

    Giving the children ownership is important, he said.

    “Not just helping out. Give (them) responsibility and guide them through it,” said Dwyer. “That helps in so many other ways in their lives as well.”

    Plan a garden that will give children a sensory experience he said. Examples include plants that provide food like tomatoes, peas and carrots; herbs that have pungent scents like lavender, mint and sage; and are tactile like lamb’s-ear and woolly thyme. These types of plants are a good way to get young people involved in what they grow.

    They need to be more involved than just pulling weeds that Dwyer warns. That might backfire and actually discourage them.

    “Don’t just hand them a dandelion digger,” he said. “The joy, the connection, in observing and growing these living plants is more important.”

Episode Credits

  • Larry Meiller Host
  • Jill Nadeau Producer
  • Mark Dwyer Guest

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