Children's Garden
Check out the complete plant list for our Children's Garden.
Objective and Design
Planting started in the Children's Garden in the fall of 2014. The Children's Garden is designed to appeal to children and provide examples of plants and art that can be used to make a garden child friendly. Most of the plants in the garden are children’s favorites which includes pumpkins, colorful flowers, tasty vegetables, and tall sunflowers. Children's art is displayed on 4x4 posts throughout the garden.
There are 3 dwarf fruit trees located in the garden, an apple, a nectarine and a peach. There are two columnar apple trees that line the entrance walk. These trees will stay small, but still need pruning to stay small enough so children can easily pick the fruit.
There is a lot of activity going on in the garden. The native milkweed plants support the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly. In summer and fall birds feed on the tall sunflowers. Pollinators such as bees and butterflies feed on the flowers and blossoms. There is a sensory garden formed by cedar rounds. The sensory garden has both annuals and perennials. There are plants that are soft to the touch, agreeable to the nose, appealing to the eye, interesting to the ear and tasty to the tongue.
Mulch is used to conserve water and control weeds. It also creates a walkable surface so the whole family can experience the garden up close.
There’s a simple compost pile made from wood stakes and vinyl covered wire. Throughout the fall, as we clean up the garden, we add green and dry plant materials. These materials will decompose over the next several months and become compost material for us to use to enrich the garden soil for next summer's planting.
The garden contains two examples of how to trellis annual plants; a pole teepee for beans and a trellis for gourds and small pumpkins. If you have a small garden space, you can use trellises to grow up and around.
We also have 3 raised vegetable and flower beds where we plant seasonal veggies and annual flowers. Pick and taste the sweet cherry tomatoes in the summer time.
Gardening is a fun family activity that provides plenty of learning possibilities.
