Getting a child gardening
Give them their own patch and something fast growing. The tools matter less than whether anything happens before they lose interest.
Steel where it matters
A child's trowel needs a metal blade. Plastic flexes on the first stone, so the child pushes harder, it bends further, and nothing gets dug. That is the whole reason most children's garden sets are abandoned within a fortnight.
What can be plastic is anything that only carries or scoops: a watering can, a bucket, a sieve. What has to be steel is anything that goes into soil. The good news is that a child sized steel trowel and fork cost very little.
- Steel blades in soil
- Trowel, fork, spade, rake. Plastic bends on the first stone and the child gets nowhere.
- Plastic is fine for carrying
- Watering can, bucket, sieve, trug. Lighter is better for those and nothing is at risk.
- Short shafts, not toy sizes
- A short handle is a safety feature. A full length spade cannot be controlled by a child.
- Their own tools
- Not borrowed adult ones. Ownership is a surprisingly large part of whether they get used.
Grow something fast
A child's patience is measured in days, not seasons. Radishes are ready in about four weeks, cress in a week, sunflowers are visibly taller every few days, and salad leaves can be picked and eaten repeatedly. Those are the things to start with.
Carrots take twelve weeks and mostly fail in stony soil. Parsnips take longer and germinate erratically. Both are bad first crops not because they are difficult but because nothing appears to happen for a month.
- Radish, about four weeks
- The fastest thing you can pull out of the ground and eat. The classic first crop for good reason.
- Sunflowers for height
- Visibly taller every few days, and a marked stick to measure against makes it a weekly event.
- Cut and come again salad
- Picked repeatedly over weeks, so there is something to harvest most times they look.
- Avoid slow or fussy
- Carrots and parsnips are slow and erratic. Nothing appears to happen and interest goes.
Give them a patch that is theirs
A metre square bed, or two large containers, that they decide about. It will be planted too closely, watered unevenly and weeded selectively, and it will still work, because the plants on this list are forgiving.
The temptation is to tidy it, thin the seedlings properly and take over. Resisting that is harder than any of the gardening and it is the thing that decides whether they come back to it next year.
- One square metre is plenty
- Or two big containers. Small enough that it never becomes a chore they are behind on.
- Let them decide
- What goes in, where, and when it gets picked. It being theirs is the whole mechanism.
- Do not tidy it
- The hardest part. A messy bed they own beats a neat one you took over, by a long way.
- Containers work indoors too
- A windowsill of cress and herbs runs all winter, which keeps it going out of season.
The real hazards, which are not the tools
Tool injuries in a garden are minor and rare compared with the two things that actually matter: what goes in their mouth, and the sun. Slug pellets, lawn feed, weedkiller and many common ornamental plants are genuinely toxic, and a child gardening is a child with soil on their hands.
So the rules are that chemicals are locked away rather than shelved, hands are washed before eating, and nothing gets tasted unless an adult has confirmed what it is. Tetanus cover is worth checking too, since soil is where it lives.
- Chemicals locked, not shelved
- Slug pellets, feed and weedkiller. These are the genuine hazard in a garden, not the trowel.
- Know your plants
- Foxglove, yew, laburnum and monkshood are all common and all toxic. Nothing tasted unless confirmed.
- Wash before eating
- Soil carries bacteria and, rarely, tetanus and toxocara. Hands before mouth, every time.
- Hat and shade
- A child gardening in July will stay out far longer than is sensible without being reminded.
- Supervise the sharp ones
- Secateurs and shears cut. A trowel and a watering can do not need watching.
Keeping them interested past week three
Something to measure, something to harvest, and something living. A marked stick beside a sunflower turns growth into a weekly event. A crop they can pick and eat closes the loop. A wormery or a log pile gives them something to look at when nothing is growing.
The other thing that works is a job that is genuinely theirs and genuinely needed: watering the containers, filling the bird feeder, checking the seed tray. Being relied on holds attention better than being entertained.
- Something to measure
- A marked stick by a sunflower. It makes a slow process into a weekly result.
- Something to eat
- Picking and eating is the reward that closes the loop. Salad and radish do it fastest.
- Something living
- A wormery, a log pile, a bug hotel. Interesting in the months when nothing is growing.
- A real job
- Watering, feeding birds, checking seedlings. Being needed holds attention better than novelty.
Frequently asked questions
- What gardening tools should a child have?
- A steel bladed trowel and hand fork, a short handled spade and rake, a small watering can they can lift full, a trug, and gloves that fit. Plastic blades are the reason most children's sets go unused, because they bend on the first stone.
- Are plastic children's garden tools any good?
- Not for anything that goes into soil. A plastic trowel flexes on the first stone so the child cannot dig, and they conclude gardening does not work. Plastic is fine for watering cans, buckets, sieves and trugs, which only carry rather than cut or dig.
- What is the best thing for a child to grow first?
- Radishes, ready in about four weeks, or cress in about a week. Sunflowers are visibly taller every few days, and cut and come again salad can be picked repeatedly. Avoid carrots and parsnips, which are slow and erratic so nothing appears to happen for a month.
- What age can a child start gardening?
- Watering, planting bulbs and picking can start as soon as they can walk steadily. Tools with an edge, meaning secateurs and shears, need supervision and enough patience to keep the other hand clear, which varies far more by child than by age.
- How big should a child's garden patch be?
- About a square metre, or two large containers. Small enough that it never becomes something they are behind on, and enough to grow four or five different things. The important part is that decisions about it are theirs rather than yours.
- Is gardening safe for children?
- The tools are the least of it. The genuine hazards are garden chemicals such as slug pellets and weedkiller, toxic ornamental plants including foxglove, yew and laburnum, and sun exposure. Lock chemicals away, confirm plants before anything is tasted, and wash hands before eating.
- Do children need gardening gloves?
- Yes, and fitted ones rather than loose. Mostly for thorns and nettles rather than tools, and both are enough to end an afternoon. A loose glove also catches in tools and gets taken off within a minute, which defeats the purpose.
- How do I keep a child interested in gardening?
- Something to measure, something to harvest and something living. A marked stick beside a sunflower turns growth into a weekly event, a picked crop closes the loop, and a wormery or log pile is interesting when nothing is growing. A real job they are relied on for also works.
