Teaching your children to garden can be a wonderful experience for both you and them. Let’s face it, children love to dig and get their hands dirty. They may even like it more that you do. Why not let them dig, explore, plant, and play by setting aside a part of your garden that they can call their own.

Start out by inviting them to help you in your garden. Explain how to plant both seeds and seedlings, how deep to dig, and how to recognize weeds. Be sure to answer any questions they may have and tell them why you do the things you do.

You don’t have to set aside a full-sized garden for them; that would overwhelm them and they’d probably end up letting the weeds overtake it. Instead, start small; a 6 feet by 12 feet area would be a good size for a child, depending upon their age. The garden may be separate from yours or it may be a marked off area of the bigger garden. Short rows, approximately 3 to 4 feet each, would be the perfect size.

Find kid-sized gardening tools and present them to your child with much fanfare. You might also want to create a sign showing the smaller garden is theirs. Child-sized gardening gloves would also be appropriate. Show them how to care for their tools and how to properly store them so they’ll be protected from the weather.

Help your child choose the plants they want to include in their garden. Do they want to grow only vegetables or do they want a flower garden? If they decide on vegetables, try to find starter plants such as tomatoes, lettuce, or strawberries. If they’re determined to start the plants from seed, try to find seeds that are larger so your child can easily handle them as they’re being planted. For a flower garden they might choose to grow sunflowers, zinnias, and marigolds.

Explain to your children that there are good creepy crawlies that visit your garden, but there are also bad ones. Good visitors would include butterflies, bees, worms, and ladybugs. Bad visitors as far as plants are concerned include moths, caterpillars, aphids, deer, and bunny rabbits. You’ll also want to explain how some plants prefer full sunlight and some prefer shadier areas.

Show them how to water their plants and tell them how important it is that the plants are watered regularly without over-watering them. Let them be responsible for watering their garden by making a watering can or garden hose easily accessible to them. You can also teach them how using mulch in their garden can help keep moisture in the soil and how it can make weeding the garden easier.

Watch the wonder on your child’s face as they watch their garden grow over the summer. You’ll also see a sense of accomplishment and pride, and possibly increased self-esteem, as they begin to harvest the vegetables or pick flowers to share with those they love. They may even be able to sell some of their crop at a roadside vegetable market rather than having a lemonade stand.