Kids Go Gardening - containers
Gardening is for everyone, even if you don’t have a place for a garden in the ground! You can plant a garden wherever you want - even in a pair of old boots!
Autumn is the perfect season to plant a little garden. All you need are some seeds or plants and something to grow them in. A container is just something that can hold soil and has holes in the bottom to let water out. Max and Ella raided the garage and found a pair of their Dad’s old boots, some plastic drain pipe, ripped gummies and an old pot. You could use an old tyre, empty paint buckets or even the potting mix bag itself - anything will do – let your imagination run free!
Step by step
Whatever you decide to use, there are four easy steps to follow:
- Punch/drill/poke holes in the bottom of the container so the water can drain out. Make sure an adult helps you with this.
- Fill the container half way with potting mix.
- Remove your plants carefully from their nursery pot and plant them into your container, using more potting mix so that all of the roots are covered and there is still at least a centimetre of space left at the top of the container so the water doesn’t run off when you water your plant.
- Water your plants regularly and feed them every week or two with liquid fertiliser.
Herbs grow really well in containers and can be picked as you need them. Ella is planting Italian Parsley. Mint, thyme, oregano and chives are other tasty herbs to grow in containers. Make sure you keep your herbs well watered. Keep trimming them to encourage new growth.
Gumboots, pots and pipes are the new homes for our vegetables. Lettuces grow well in containers, so do carrots. Max is growing some carrots from seed – but these carrots aren’t the usual ones…. they’re little round ones called ‘Roly Poly’. Delicious!
Flowers are fantastic in containers – who would have thought gerberas and marigolds could look so stunning in a pair of old boots? Put them by your front door where they will make a cute but bold statement.
Gerberas are bright, festive flowers and belong to the sunflower family. They come in a wide range of colours, flower for ages, and can be grown in the garden as well as in containers. They look spectacular in a vase too!
30-Mar-2015
Potting up a gerbera
In the Garden
