A child friendly plot?

[di]

It looks pretty tatty here...but it still did it's job.

[Creemteez]

It looks pretty tatty here...but it still did it's job.

Wish I was four years old again! My sisters and brother and I used to lower the washing line in the garden and drape an old blanket over it to make a tent!
On the subject of a living arbour, what about getting hold of some thin willow branches and creating the hoops of your den? They root really easily and won't attract bees like beans would. Might get a bit spidery though!

[HeyWayne]

I thought Willow was difficult to get hold of, and expensive when you do?

I have plenty of Ash prunings - long straight cuttings. Would they work?

[Creemteez]

Have no idea about Ash, but am suprised at the idea of Willow being hard to come by. Is there no stretch of river or canal near you with a willow or two hanging over it? Not suggesting for one moment you do anything illeagal you understand, but a few judicious snips would all that would be required.....
Or if you don't fancy being done for anti-social behaviour, maybe get in touch with your local Parks department and ask if you could do a bit of light pruning for them - never know till you ask!

[oldie]

My grandson aged 3yrs and 5 months often comes to "help". He has planted onion sets (upside down) but nicely spaced, sowed various seeds and helped me plant 20 bare root hedge plants. However he is happiest with a watering can and a trowel. Mud castles beat sand castles any day. Mum is not always pleased with the results. Almost forgot his contribution to the compost heap.

[geoff]

My Dad was a builder - cum -carpenter. I grew up with all sorts of sharp and dirty things; chisels, saws, hammers, broken glass, cement, old timber and brick rubble. And like all the other boys in the village I was playing in the local rivers and had knives and axes while I was still at primary scool
I seem to have reached adulthood without any injuries, maiming or poisoning
Give the kids their own tools (or better still let them come with you to choose and buy them), seeds and area, and let them get on with it. Just hose them down each evening.

[harrybrew69]

Most of our plot has carpet paths (old carpet, we don't hoover them!). our boy is almost two, so that's one of the reasons I put the paths down. in front of the shed i laid a three meter square piece for him to play on. we also have a sort of decking at the side of the shed (not really decking but when i built the shed, i cut it in half with a wall and left that half open, it still has a roof though). This gives him plenty of room when we take him up. It doesn't stop him wanting to follow me everywhere, but it keeps his feet clean (and his hands too).

[organic]

HeyWane... I'm not sure why I've not remembered until now, but a while back I found a blog you might find worth reading:
www.littlegreenfingers.com

I can't remember how old they were when the blog started but I'm sure you'll find some stuff on there that's worth knowing.

[di]

I relly like the idea of a willow den but not so committed to having something so permanent...as the kiddies are growing I'm sneakily reducing their area by digging more beds....I guess if I were to be organised enough to actually sketch a long term design for the plot I could find space that I'd be happy to dedicate to it,but at present things are more at the 'what shall we do this year?'stage.

I just rememebered,ours spent over an houtr seeing who could dig the deepest hole last Sunday....bang in the middle of a freshly dug plot...I WAS thinking it was yet another job to rectify what they've done but I'm now thinking I'll arm them with some compost on Saturday and have them prepare their pumpkin patch!

I think the important thing for you Wayne(or at least it has been for us)is to play it by ear....it's all very lovely to hear of tots that love nothing more than to be shadowing you constantly,eager to become lil gardeners in their own right...it came as a bit of a blow the first time D&A winged that they didn't want to go to the 'boring old allotment'....they love to help with planting just a few spuds or popping in the odd bean but they're kids and with that comes a fairly short attention span.No matter how much fun we think they should be having a back up plan never goes amiss(I really don't mean that to sound patronising...ours aren't that much older than Bean so I'm the last person to be able to offer you any pearls of wisdom)Good Luck with getting Bean involved...as long as your expectations remain realistic I'm sure he'll grow to love his lottie time as much as you.

[SarzWix]

I thought Willow was difficult to get hold of, and expensive when you do?

I have plenty of Ash prunings - long straight cuttings. Would they work?

Willow whips aren't that expensive. They'd be just 'sticks' for the first weason while they rooted themselves, but you could throw a sheet or something over them to create the shade.

The Willowbank Mailorder Catalogue

[oldie]

I was also thinking of a willow dome type thing but I'm told willow is invasive and the roots can damage drains. Anyone confirm/deny this?

[HeyWayne]

Some cracking ideas people thank you. With the sun shining this afternoon I'm itching to get started and create some space for my Beans (plural not intended to infer that another is in their way in the near future, but plans are afoot for more Beans).

[Flummery]

I was also thinking of a willow dome type thing but I'm told willow is invasive and the roots can damage drains. Anyone confirm/deny this?

Oh yes! We had to have a couple of willows removed from the school grounds where I worked - they were damaging the drains of the kitchen - wuite a long way away. They drains were cleared of a huge ball of root and a few years later they were clogged with it again.

[piskieinboots]

I'll look after him soon

[oldie]

I'll abandon that idea then Flummery. The drain is only ten feet away from the spot I was thinking of.