Of all the activities children can get involved in, gardening never seems the most immediately practical. Dirt, potentially dangerous tools, and the chance of having a precious plant mangled (I have witnessed frustrated – and sleep deprived – adults shedding rage tears over alliums decapitated by footballs). It is possibly a lot easier just to take them to soft play.
But then pretty much every adult I speak to who loves gardening can trace this back to getting dirt beneath their fingernails as a child. Often we associate gardening with those who show us how, the patient parent, grandparent or family friend who gently takes our pudgy little hands and shows us how to pick blackberries, sow seeds or unearth a carrot that actually tastes of something.
Without being too earnest, if we don’t show future generations how to engage with the earth through looking at, tending to and nurturing it, they won’t treat it with the kindness it deserves. Plus, it’s half-term – that soft play is going to be heaving.
I’m no parenting expert – my son is seven months old – so I’m borrowing from those with a more experience. In terms of days out, the five RHS gardens (Wisley, Bridgewater, Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall and Rosemoor) all have children’s activities of a spooky inclination this week, which should offer a good runaround. But there are ways of getting little ones outdoors closer to home.
Lots of autumn jobs are robust enough to be taken on by smaller hands. Now is a good time to plant bulbs, as I wrote in my last column, and filling a container with earth before stuffing a load in is a winningly foolproof job – even upside down bulbs will grow the right way up. Daffodil bulbs can cause skin irritation so gloves are probably a good idea.
We’re also at the beginning of mulching season. Spreading mulch is crucial for soil health and drought prevention. It’s also quite a boring, messy activity. Order some well-rotted manure now and you’ll be grateful for small helpers spreading it around.
The more organised among us will be leaving stakes around to mark where perennials are before they die back over winter. If the weather’s poor, having them help make labels out of lolly sticks or bamboo canes will prove genuinely useful in the new year.
If you planted sunflowers in the summer and haven’t cut them down yet, removing any remaining seed from the heads is an ideal job for little fingers. Autumn’s a good time to build a bug hotel and make fat balls for birds (biodegradable feeders can be made of grapefruit halves threaded with string and filled with birdseed) as the colder nights draw in.
