Planting the Flower Cutting Garden

We’ve been working to prepare and plant the Flower Cutting Garden and both girls have been involved in so many ways. We’ve a little behind in getting things in the ground between teaching a summer course and other things we’ve been slowed down a bit. We have never been too strict about a schedule, things often get done in May as we wind down from the academic school year.

We weeded and put down some old cement blocks and bricks we had around, which required many trips of the little red wheelbarrow! We used these to make a path through the garden. I wanted to spread them out and have a fun, winding path but our neat and organized 3-year-old had another idea, and since this garden is hers we made a straight path. It was slow going because, as I dug an inch or so down to set the pavers in the ground, worms were exposed. Each time she had to rescue and relocate all the worms to other places before we could continue.

Making the path provided several opportunities for counting and talking about patterns as we put down four cement pavers and then two bricks, and then four cement pavers, etc. For the end of the path we plan to make two hexagon stepping stones since hexagons are her favorite shape. (Stay tuned, we got some stepping stones to decorate from Michael’s.)

Once the garden was smoothed over with a garden rake, we placed bamboo stakes into the ground to mark the rows (with plastic bottles on top to protect eyes). Using a string we marked the rows where the plants would go.

We had some large seedlings and younger seedlings that we grew earlier in the spring and some additional seeds to plant directly in the ground. I made holes with a trowel about every 6-8 inches or and planted everything with their help over two days. They especially liked digging the holes, covering over the plant roots or seeds, and watering. We haven’t yet invested in a sandbox and in some ways I wonder if we even need one. There is plenty of dirt for digging and the dirt doesn’t seem to wiggle into as many places as sand does!

Now that it’s planted we’ll sit back and watch, patiently! I’m glad we have the path so that they know where to step as the seedlings are small. I’m sure some plants will be trampled a bit but enough will survive to make a beautiful garden.

Update: On a disappointing note, we didn’t get the fence up before the two sunflowers and some zinnias were nipped by rabbits. Our little gardener is surprisingly not angry at the rabbits, instead saying, “Well we’ll plant new ones.”

What garden tasks are your little ones involved in? What are their favorite ways to help?