National Children’s Gardening Week is held between 25 May – 2 June every year, this event is dedicated to help encourage children to discover the wonders of gardening and inspire curiosity.
Growing young minds with creativity and a sense of responsibility for our natural world.
We know that water and the environment are intrinsically linked and building sustainable gardens that can adapt to our changing climate is vital to supporting our future water supply.
Water resources in the UK are under pressure from the challenges of population growth and climate change. By making changes now to our day-to-day habits, we can make a huge difference to protecting our environment, water sources and sustainability.
Getting involved...
Gardening is a great activity to involve the whole family, and there are lots of fun ways to involve young children too!
Looking for a low cost gardening activity? Instead of throwing away empty toilet rolls, keep them to use as plant modules, or planting trays They are more friendly to the environment and are resilient enough to hold soil for your plant roots to grow.
Ever considered your very own mini pond? Create a small haven for wildlife in your garden by collecting rainwater in a plastic container. Dig a hole, place your container in the ground in a sunny, unshaded spot, and introduce a few pond plants, this is to oxygenise the water, which is crucial for life to take hold. Place a handful of stones or gravel at the foot of the container, and always ensure that is anything falls in, such as a hedgehog, it will be able to climb back out again. This can be done with a log of a branch simply placed across the top of the pond.
National Children’s Gardening Week have shared lots more fun activities to involve children in the garden this summer! For downloadable activity sheets and a bucket load of ideas, visit their website(opens in a new tab).
Mains to rain...
While getting out in the garden and helping your plants flourish, it’s important to remember to use tap water as sparingly as you can. It’s easy to adapt to gardening with less water, it just takes a little bit of creativity.
Everyone can learn something new in the garden, and getting the children involved will not only help develop important life skills, but also shape them into guardians of the environment, fostering a greener and more sustainable future.
So, what can we all do to have fun, be sustainable, and use less water?
Prevent pollution - Plastic is among the worst pollutants of our oceans affecting wildlife and polluting our beaches. Making a small change to the way that you or your family garden by turning to biodegradable materials makes all the difference.
Manage water - Collecting rain water as often as you can in pots, water butts or containers will reduce the amount of water you use from the tap to water your plants. Plants actually prefer rainwater – it’s full of all the goodness they need to thrive and grow.
Plant for the environment – Opting for drought-tolerant plants means that you will need to water less often, as the plants can tolerate long and dry periods. Lavender and rosemary are great examples, and they smell wonderful too!
Looking after the soil – think of the soil like our skin, we need to protect it from the sun as much as we can. Using mulch or bark chippings on top of your soil will help prevent evaporation, keeping the moisture in for the roots. You can also use SwellGel, a water storing granule activated by rainfall, which expand into thousands of self-contained ‘reservoirs’, absorbing hundreds of times their own weight of water!
Order SwellGel and other water saving devices for your home and garden for FREE, here.
Saving water in the garden may be easier than you think! For more tips and ideas, visit here.
Let’s work together to dig deep and build an environment that adapts to our changing climate, while having fun and getting all the family involved!
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