Plant up a Herb Garden with the kids

Welcome to the Kids Korner- the place where we show you how to bring your little ones into the garden. Each month we bring you ideas on how to spend time with your children, how to embrace their creativity and enable you to spend quality time with them.

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Easy with some parental guidance

Why a Herb Garden?

It’s the perfect time of year to plant up a pot or bed of herbs with the kids  – we have plenty of rain and the sunny days do wonders for their growth.

Think about the types of herbs your family may need or would like to use. Herbs can be great for culinary uses but can also be used for remedies and teas, amongst other things.

Find a space for pots on the patio or balcony, or a dedicated space for them in a garden bed, and allow them this space to explore.

Which herbs should we plant up?

If the kids would enjoy using Kitchen herbs that would be easy to add into a meal or enjoy as part of an afternoon calming tea, then these herbs are a fantastic choice:

• Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
• Basil (Ocimum basilicum)
• Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
• Sage (Salvia officinalis)
• Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

The kids will love making sandwiches from cheese, tomato and fresh basil leaves, and one can teach them to add thyme and sage to burnt butters and  Italian dishes. Lavender is naturally calming and can be placed under a pillow for a more calming nights sleep.

Maybe the children fancy a butterfly garden – it’s a wonder to see the larvae and then the butterflies themselves take up residence in a garden and children are fascinated with them. The following herbs are a wonderful choice for attracting pollinators.

• Bee Balm (Mondarda fistulosa, M. didyma)
• Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea)
• Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
• Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)

Echinacea in itself is a whimsical plant with its droopy petals, and adding fairy garden elements to this herb space wouldn’t be out of place. Click |HERE| to read a post we made on Kids Korner about making Fairy Gardens with the kids.

The practical side of things:

Show them how to gently make spaces for the seeds or seedlings and how to remove each plant from its seedling pack. Once planting holes are dug, the soil should then be gently compressed around each plant, with generous potting soil or compost added to the planting spaces. See our blog on how to sow seeds |HERE|

Now that the herbs are planted, ensure that they are watered regularly. Give this task to the kids and make a chart of watering days.

Teach the kids to remove pesky weeds gently so as not to break them, and to pick herbs continually to encourage growth.

It’s a fantastic idea, especially for older kids, to keep drawing of their herbs, or photographs, which both fosters a sense of pride, and encourages creativity and a sense of pride over Their herbs.

It’s also very simple to make signs for each herb from popsicle sticks and a pop of paint- let the kids (and the herbs) go wild!

Have you read our previous Kids Korner post? We discussed in detail how to get your kids into the garden. Read more |HERE|

We would love to see what you and your children get up to in the garden! Tag us on Instagram using the hashtags  #lifestylehomegarden and #lifestylekidskorner and the tag @LifestyleHomeGarden so that we can see your posts!