OneStepAtATime Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Let me preface this post by saying: I kill plants. I love plants but they die as soon as I walk in a room. I do not have a green thumb. I do not want to mess up my kids' enthusiasm because I am inept with plants. My son (middle school) wants very badly to learn about horticulture and specifically landscaping (our yard needs help and he wants to be the one to do it). My daughter (high school) wants to learn more about gardening and decorative plants that are edible. They are willing to combine resources and learn a broader range of topics than their preferred focus. They are both dyslexic, can read at grade level, but do better with lots of pictures and video resources that are fact based, and I do better with something systematic that walks me through everything step by step. This is NOT my comfort zone. They have both had a couple of stressful years emotionally and need something that is uplifting, not drill and kill. Help? Any suggestions? Local 4-H is out for this year (and is VERY poorly organized in our area and the homeschool one is tiny and dying out and does not do plants). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 My aunt's advice is "plant everything everywhere, see what works, forget you ever planted what didn't." :lol: I always thought she had special magic and could grow anything, but it wasn't true. She just impressed us all with quantity. :lol: Get hold of Rosalind Creasy's books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 :laugh: Thanks Rosie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoVanGogh Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 I would search for a local garden club that is active and well-organized and welcoming to children. I have been in a large and very active garden club for almost 20 years - well before my child was born. They love well behaved children that are interested in gardening! Bringing in that next generation and all. If you can't find a garden club, look for Master Naturalist or Master Gardener Jr programs in your area or local nature centers that may have volunteer programs. Check out books from local sources or publishing companies. I live in a southern state and, while I love Rodale Publishing, most of their info pertains to NE climates. And - like Rosie mentioned - plant everything! Really. I have a huge garden. I learn much more by what I have killed than by what has thrived... Try an assortment to see where interests are. Herbs. Daylilies. Shrubs. Veggies. Tropicals. Etc. We have teen boy in area that got into hybridizing irises when he was quite young. Local iris society welcomed him in their midst. Also, find a mom and pop garden center and let your kids hang out there and soak up any info they can. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted December 22, 2016 Author Share Posted December 22, 2016 I would search for a local garden club that is active and well-organized and welcoming to children. I have been in a large and very active garden club for almost 20 years - well before my child was born. They love well behaved children that are interested in gardening! Bringing in that next generation and all. If you can't find a garden club, look for Master Naturalist or Master Gardener Jr programs in your area or local nature centers that may have volunteer programs. Check out books from local sources or publishing companies. I live in a southern state and, while I love Rodale Publishing, most of their info pertains to NE climates. And - like Rosie mentioned - plant everything! Really. I have a huge garden. I learn much more by what I have killed than by what has thrived... Try an assortment to see where interests are. Herbs. Daylilies. Shrubs. Veggies. Tropicals. Etc. We have teen boy in area that got into hybridizing irises when he was quite young. Local iris society welcomed him in their midst. Also, find a mom and pop garden center and let your kids hang out there and soak up any info they can. Thanks for the input! I actually did look for a local Master Gardener Jr. program and a local garden club and struck out there but I haven't looked for a Master Naturalist. There IS a nearby local garden center that I think is still operational. I might see how amenable they are to us hanging around and asking questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandragood1 Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Your local agricultural extension may have some info for you. The website should have tons. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherGoose Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Yes, I agree with Rosie. Fill whatever space you have with lots of plants. They need to get over the fear of killing things. Have them learn to start seeds and figure out their growing zones. For example, seed packets say "when the ground can be worked." That's different in areas where the ground freezes for 6 months and where it doesn't. Have them read Rodale books, as well as books abOut your area. Buy seeds from online seed places and make them tell you why they are appropriate. Make them go around and talk to salespersons on local garden centers abOut what to plant (not big box stores). Befriend neighbors and church members with lovely gardens and have kids go over to discuss. Anyone who is a gardener would love to pass on information to them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shifra Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 I'm more of a vegetable and fruit gardener than a flower gardener, but I really enjoyed The Children's Kitchen Garden by Georgeanne and Ethel Brennan. They are writing about a garden in the San Francisco area, which is a very mild climate, so I would not take all of their advice if you live in a different climate, but it is a very inspirational book. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 We've done the plant tons of stuff and see what works thing and it's been really fun. Of course we do read the seed zones and try to listen to what it says about sun and shade, but in the end I think there's a lot of trial and error and that's ok. Also be sure to do some hardy plants like marigolds so they can see something alive ! :) We even did a tree and are about to plant another two trees this spring :) we had to leave the tree behind but it's doing well. We had chosen a tree labeled "hardy" and it lived up to its promise :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Don't you have an elderly neighbor who they can learn from? They can offer to weed and trim in exchange for advice!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted December 26, 2016 Author Share Posted December 26, 2016 Don't you have an elderly neighbor who they can learn from? They can offer to weed and trim in exchange for advice!!! Sadly not that I have found. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. DS wanted to get DD some plants for Christmas. We went to Walmart for groceries and he wanted to check out their plants. There were almost none left and those that were still around looked in pretty bad shape. That inspired him. He wanted to save the plants. We bought 4 (marked down to almost nothing). DD was thrilled. She loves "saving" things. The kids are carefully nurturing them but the instructions are gone. I don't even know what three of them are. They are probably different cactus of some kind so those will probably do o.k. even though one wasn't even in a pot any longer, it was just laying on its side, abandoned. One is a bulb flower, a Lilly, but I am terrible with plants so have no idea how to take care of it. I told the kids we need to do research to find the best way to care for each plant. At least we got the plants really cheap. The kids also each got a bonsai tree kit in their stocking (grandma) but DD started reading the instructions (25 pages long or so) and decided that may be beyond our capabilities at the moment. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Bulbs are usually fine as long as they aren't sitting in water, or they'll rot. Feeding them a bit when they die off is a good idea too, and never chop off their leaves, even if they look yellow and ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 For theory, get this game--it's got a surprising amount of information. http://www.ampersandpress.com/product110.html For veggie gardening, this is kind of the classic: https://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-More-Vegetables-Eighth/dp/160774189X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482810732&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+grow+more+vegetables+than+you+ever+thought+possible If you can, I would say to give them a garden plot and have them double dig it and plan out a year of various annuals. I don't have this one, but it sounds like it would suit your goals: https://www.amazon.com/Edible-Flower-Garden/dp/9625932933/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482810873&sr=1-1&keywords=edible+flowers 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 I don't have this one, but it sounds like it would suit your goals: https://www.amazon.com/Edible-Flower-Garden/dp/9625932933/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482810873&sr=1-1&keywords=edible+flowers This is a very inspiring book. However, if you live in an area with deer, you may find yourself providing them with a lovely buffet. If you have them, you might encourage your dd to grow just a small, fenced bed of edible flowers and to plant a variety of plants deer won't eat in the rest of the yard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted December 27, 2016 Author Share Posted December 27, 2016 This is a very inspiring book. However, if you live in an area with deer, you may find yourself providing them with a lovely buffet. If you have them, you might encourage your dd to grow just a small, fenced bed of edible flowers and to plant a variety of plants deer won't eat in the rest of the yard. Interesting! I would not have thought about this. We do have deer out on area ranches but rarely ever a deer in town. Yards are almost all fenced here so there is no easy place to roam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Be glad you don't have them! We have a lot of wooded areas around here for deer to live, and they fan out into the surrounding neighborhoods for meals. Most fences don't stop them; they just slow them down a little. I wondered when we bought our house why the perennials were planted in such odd places and why there were so few varieties. It turns out all of them were plants deer don't like; they'd destroyed the rest. The only person I know with no garden deer problems has an 8 foot high fence around her garden. Please let us know what your dc end up doing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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