The best plants for gardening with children

Children have great fun gardening. But which plants are best suited for making their first attempts in the garden with the little ones?

That Gardening with children can be great fun for everyone involved if a few basic rules are observed. So that the grown-ups stay relaxed while the youngsters experiment to their heart's content, it is advisable to be skilful when selecting plants. They should be robust species that do not exhale their life with the first too lively water pour. There are also other important criteria depending on the use. In the case of edible plants, good taste and a long harvest period naturally play a key role. The attractiveness of children's plants increases enormously when the fruit is directly in the raw state the plant can be nibbled and - important for the impatient little ones - when it is fast-growing is. Many plants also have advantages, even if they are not suitable for consumption: They are excellent for playing. We have put together the best herbs, edible flowers, vegetables and fruits as well as "play plants" for you.

The best vegetables to grow with children

Every child knows vegetables from the family table and eats them with more or less enthusiasm. But where does the crunchy food actually come from? The children can pursue this question in a snack and playful way while growing their own vegetables. Below we have listed the best types of vegetables that will ideally introduce your children or grandchildren to gardening:

• Melothria: The Mexican mini cucumber or “sweet cucumber” climbs easily on sunny fences or trellises and delights young and old as they pass by with their small, sour fruits. These can also be pickled very well. The delicate plants should be put on the windowsill in spring and planted out after the last frost, as they are very sensitive to the cold.
• radish: The pretty little radishes are the perfect beginner vegetable. Cultivation can begin from March to the end of August. The radish makes only minor demands on the location, and sometimes forgives casting errors. The seeds are so large that they can be sown well by younger children. The vitamin-rich storage tubers can be harvested after just four weeks. Children get used to the heat quickly when the radishes are finely sliced ​​on bread and butter.

• Sweet peas: Young gardeners need a little more patience for these sweet vegetables, which can also be eaten raw. The sowing takes place from mid-April, from August can be harvested. Many varieties are happy about a climbing aid, but there are also smaller ones, up to 40 centimeters high, that do without a scaffold and can also be harvested independently by the youngest.
• Cocktail tomatoes: The small-fruited ones Varieties of tomatoes are loved by most of the children. They are cute, fit in every child's mouth without blundering and are more forgiving of casting errors than their large-fruited relatives, who are often prone to Brown rot when they get too much water and the foliage is wetted. If there is no really sunny spot on the windowsill, the plants tend to ginger, that is, the shoots grow out, become thin and bend easily. A good alternative are purchased young plants, which are now available in a wide variety of varieties.

Tip: Our Plantura organic soil - like for example the Plantura organic tomato & vegetable soil - are not only sustainable and peat-free, but also harmless to children and animals.

The best fruits to grow with children

Certain types of fruit are also ideal for working with the little ones in the garden:

• Strawberries: When the red fruits ripen, summer will come. Strawberries are a great fruit for children because they can be made quickly propagate vegetatively, wear at least three years in the same location and the quality and freshness from their own garden is unsurpassed. Here you can Growing varietiesthat were not specially bred to survive the transport from Spain to Central Europe, but to taste good. One of the most famous and delicious varieties is the 'Mieze Schindler'. Incidentally, strawberries also thrive Suitable for balconies in pot or even traffic light crops. In this case, particular attention should be paid to adequate watering.
• Raspberries: The soil needs to be well prepared for this culture: It should be deep, loose and rich in nutrients. The effort is worth it, because the raspberry rods will then do little work for many years and will be an absolute hit in the snack garden. If you early and late varieties combine, you can harvest from May to October with two main harvest seasons.

Herbs for gardening with children

Herbs thrive easily and relatively quickly on any windowsill. Every meal becomes a little feast when the children proudly sprinkle the self-grown and self-harvested fragrant leaves over it, and they will never want to do without them again. Belong to the absolute basic equipment chives, basil and parsley. Another nice option is with the little ones to design a herbal raised bed. This can of course be adjusted in height to the size of the children.

Edible flowers for children

It is always amazing how much children like to use greens when they are served in an appealing way. Edible flowers can make a major contribution to this. Most of them not only look pretty, but also taste really good. Nasturtiums, Violet, daisy, rose, Chickweed, Marigolds, primrose, mallow, borage and linseed flowers are just a few examples of the colorful variety on the plate.

"Play plants" for gardening with children

Some plants are not edible, but make great play and handicraft material. A living willow teepee can be built from freshly cut willow branches. The flexible rods are inserted as long cuttings into a circular planting pit and firmly poured into place. The shoot tips can then be tied or braided in the desired shape and height. The rods soon begin to sprout new leaves and soon form a shady and opaque hiding place for our little adventurers. A haptically interesting and decorative plant is the Wollziest: The leaves are densely hairy and silvery and fluffy like "rabbit ears". The clematis likes to grow wild and provides feathery, fluffy fruit structures that are suitable for upholstering gnomes hiding places. The pimpernut is an interesting native hedge plant: its bubble-shaped fruits contain exposed seeds that make a rattling sound.

If you want to know more about gardening with children, you will find useful tips and articles at Plantura. For example about which plants you should avoid in kindergarten because of their toxicity or which ornamental plants are good for the garden with children (and pets). If you don't have your own garden or balcony, order gardening with your children or grandchildren, then you will find inspiration for indoor garden projects here. More on this, how schools and kindergartens (re) discover the garden as a place of learning, find out here.

Another great way to discover the garden world with children is by spreading birdseed. A multitude of colorful garden birds linger at small feeding places in the garden, which you can then easily watch with your children. Our Plantura corn dumplings lure, for example, nuthatches, hawks, blue tits, woodpeckers and many other visitors to their garden.