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With summer right around the corner, there’s no better time to introduce your child to the world of gardening. Teaching them how to garden is a fun and active way to spend time appreciating nature and learning the basics of facts of life. To learn more about the best tips for teaching your child how to garden, continue reading our blog below.

Start With Easier Plants

One of the besttips for teaching your child how to garden is to start by growing easy and adaptable plants. While your children might love the wild colors of their favorite flowers, less sensitive seeds will produce a more fruitful garden. Choosing sensitive plants that need a higher degree of care may result in plants not blooming, which could dishearten your child. Instead, let your child pick from a list of highly growable and low-maintenance seeds. If you’re not sure what plants are the easiest to maintain, check out our list below.

Low-Maintenance Plants

• Sunflowers
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Radishes

Teach Garden Safety

Gardening with your child gives you an excellent opportunity to teach them about practicing garden safety. For example, explaining to your children how to coexist with bees and other common insects is essential to keeping them safe. There are multiple reasons to teach your child about bees. When children learn to be calm around bees rather than swat or kick at them, they are less likely to experience bee stings and possible allergic reactions. Warning your child about garden snakes, spiders, and other scary critters is also critical. Children who understand how to keep themselves safe while playing and gardening outside will be less likely to suffer from any of these potential dangers.

Give Them Responsibilities

Regardless of how young your child is, gardening is a wonderful opportunity to teach them responsibility. Rather than having them watch you dig holes and plant seeds, involve them in the process. There are plenty of child-safe gardening utensils to get your child started on digging and planting seeds. If they’re older, you can increase their duties by having them water the plants each day. Giving your child the responsibility to lead the growth of your garden will teach them the importance of nurturing something as it develops.

There are so many benefits to spending time outside with your child and teaching them how to garden. Whether your child is passionate about their plants or enjoys trying new activities, gardening is an excellent hobby to cultivate time together.

If you’ve got a green thumb and want to capitalize off your expert flower arrangements, opening a floral shop could be the right move. That may sound daunting at first glance, but there are many different opportunities to start and grow no matter where you are in life. If you’re interested in learning more, read on fortips onhow to start a floral business.

Have a Passion

Any small business is going to have its ups and downs at the beginning. It’s essential when you find yourself head-on with those struggles that you know why you’re doing it in the first place. While it’s not necessary, having a love for what you’re doing will help continue to drive you past the early hurdles. It helps if you’ve had experience either in the floral industry or as a hobby before. The more talent and experience you have, the better it will be.

What Is Your Initial Investment?

A lot of the initial planning will be dependent on how much time and money you can invest at the start.  While it can be good to have seed money available, a physical location to rent, and supplies ready to go, it’s also feasible to begin as a side hustle out of your own home. When thinking about how to start a floral business, it’s beneficial to have a budget for both money and time so you know what limitations you’ll have to work around. 

Consider Your Inventory Needs

Once you have a budget, you can begin to gather the supplies you’ll need to carry out your vision. Many of these items will be self-explanatory, such as ribbons, scissors, clippers, and a source for flowers. You may also need to account for expenses such as a refrigerated truck that can handle your cooling demands, all of which will depend on your current capacity.

Get Your Name Out There

If you haven’t the faintest idea of obtaining clients, offering your services to friends and family can be a good start. If someone has a birthday or baby shower coming up, that’s an excellent opportunity to show your skills and get word of mouth going.  Once you’ve created a portfolio and begin to market yourself, you might consider creating a website, making some flowery business cards, and posting your arrangements on social media like Instagram.  Once you’ve begun to establish a clientele, you’ll be able to build on your experience and help your floral business continue to grow.

During spring cleaning, you sometimes come across items that deserve a second chance. Gardens offer those chances, turning old junk onto eye-catching, rustic, and charming objects d’art amidst all the natural colors and textures. Give your personal backyard Eden something extra with these upcycling ideas to beautify your garden.

Furniture Planters

Have an old wooden chair that’s becoming rickety but probably has a few more years of standing power in it? Cut a hole through the seat, insert a pot or planter, fill it with soil and seeds, and set it up in an area of your garden that could use a visual filler or conversation piece. Get a viny plant to wind its way around the chair’s back, armrests, and legs, and then flowers at the bottom. Benches, rocking chairs, dressers, and similar furniture works as well. Add some color to them with waterproof paint. Make it clear they’re not for sitting by festooning them with greenery!

Tire Planters

Over their lifespan, tires perform a thankless job before being disposed of. If they’re lucky, they’re shredded and turned into mats or playground filler. Usually, even if they’re reasonably green and eco-friendly tires, they’re simply thrown into landfills and left to rot for a very, very long time. That durability makes them perfect planters for your backyard garden. Clean them up, give them a bright and cheerful paint job, then fill them with soil and flower seeds or other decorative, nonedible plants. Stack them to create a nice, layered effect.

Containers and Non-Container Planters

Do you have popcorn tins, old kid’s boots, plastic buckets, mixing bowls, baking trays, or other items that have seen their day? After cleaning and painting them, you can turn them into accent planters for a quirky upcycled look. The challenge is to incorporate them into the landscape, not simply leave them in a line along your porch. Consider bolting them to a wooden fence to break up the monotony of a flat wall. Stack stones in a back corner and create tiers on which to rest the planters to make the most of a smaller space.

Stump Planter

Nature can inspire upcycling ideas to beautify your garden. If you’ve had to chop down a tree because it was diseased or dying and are left with an unsightly stump as a result—well, you can still turn that to your advantage. Get out your tools and prepare to bring new life to the old by carving a hole into the stump and turning it into a planter. Clear away any leaves or branches, then drill several large holes into the top of the stump. Use a hammer and chisel to cut away the wood into a wide circle, leaving an inch away from the sides. Repeat until you reach the depth you’d like, then fill it up with soil and fertilizer. Plant seeds or an already grown plant. Keep in mind that you can carve niches into the stump as well to hold pots or other decorations. Remember that, although the stump will eventually rot, you can make yours last with a polyurethane sealant.

Have you caught the gardening bug? If so, then you’re about to enjoy a very fulfilling and valuable hobby. Like anything else, there’s a right way and a wrong way to get started. If you want to become an expert gardener, then you need to master the basics first. We want you to succeed in growing your first plants, so here are some important tips for new gardeners.

Do Your Growing Research

One of the hardest things for new gardeners to get right is the timing. Getting the timing right is critical for growing healthy plants. Each plant will have a different bloom time. The region that you’re in also plays a part in when you should plant. Here are a few tips for nailing the timing:

• Know which plants you intend to grow first.
• Check out a growing calendar for your area to know when to plant.
• Learn the average first and last frost dates in your region.

Keep It Simple at First

A lot of beginner gardeners tend to bite off more than they can chew. Remember, while you may want to grow a mile-long, bustling garden, you’re still new to gardening. That’s why starting small is a great idea. Try starting with a simple raised garden bed with a few plants.

By starting simple, you’ll get to know the needs of your plants. You’ll also get familiar with the climate in your area. You could even start with some seed paper sheets to keep it light and simple!

Scout for the Sunniest Areas

Your plants will need a lot of sunlight to thrive. Most plants need at least six hours of sunshine each day. That’s why you need to find the perfect spot that gets the most sun. Make sure there are no significant obstructions, such as trees or houses, in the way. Also, try and view your selected spot during each time of the day to make sure it gets consistent sun.

Set Up a Watering System

Plants need water to survive. As a result, you need a quality irrigation system to provide your plants with a steady water supply. Your irrigation system needs to stay in pristine working condition. If you spot signs of a faulty irrigation system, you’ll have to seek repairs. Any leaks? Get them sorted as soon as possible so that you’re not wasting any water.

Your Soil Is Everything

You should know that there’s a big difference between dirt and soil. A seasoned gardener can instantly spot the difference. Soil is dark black and rich in nutrients, and it usually has worms. You can perform a home soil test to check the potency of your soil. You can also fertilize the ground to improve the quality of the soil. If you don’t have rich, robust soil in which to grow your plants, you won’t find success as a gardener.
There you have it—some important tips for new gardeners. Follow this guide, and you’ll have a vibrant garden growing before you know it. Don’t give up!