close your eyes and imagine: the touch and feel of soft velvety rose petals; the smell of a carpet of bluebells on a bright, early spring day; the taste of your own freshly picked bright red tomatoes; sunflowers, heads all pointing the same direction as they reach for the hot sun; the sound of water trickling through stones and gleaming as it catches the bright sunlight.
The sensory experience of gardening stimulates children of all ages to care for and take pride in their environment. It also allows them to be creative in colour and design, as well as giving them plenty of exercise!
So where do you start? Good question. First look at your play environment and think hard about what it has to offer. Do you have access to a growing area? The area does not have to be very big, small areas can be extremely productive. Think about which direction the garden is facing - will it benefit from some sun? Think about where you can store gardening tools - if you have access to a small shed then all the better. But if not, don't worry, as tools could perhaps be stored safely in a cupboard inside the club. Do you have access to an outside tap or will water have to be transported via a watering can?
If you don't have access to a piece of garden that can be used for planting then ask around the neighbourhood - someone may let your club use a piece of garden or ground. Why not explore the opportunity of developing a small community garden with the local council? Or perhaps you could rent an allotment? Funding may well be available for groups who come up with innovative ideas to provide communal green spaces. The New Opportunities Fund (tel: 0845 000 0121) may be very interested in receiving applications for exactly this kind of project.
However, if all this seems beyond you, there are plenty of other options:
* Tub, pot and window box gardening
* A rock garden in an old sink
* Growing plants and salads on a window ledge
* Hanging baskets
* Miniature gardens
* Bonsai trees
* Cacti and succulents
* Making visits to local gardens - these include country house gardens, wild gardens, vegetable allotments, garden centres and county or village shows where locals show their vegetables and flowers.
* Visiting Hampton Court and Chelsea Flower show. Why not have a go at designing a garden for these shows?
Tub and pot gardening
More or less anything can be grown in a pot or tub. The secret is to make sure you are using a good quality soil or compost, that the container has drainage holes so that plants do not become waterlogged, and that regular feeding takes place to top up the nutrients in the soil.
When choosing your container look in other people's gardens to get ideas...you will be surprised at what you see - old wheelbarrows, buckets, barrels, sinks and chimney pots can all be used.
Grow-bags can be purchased very cheaply and will allow you to cultivate tomatoes, courgettes, marrows and cucumbers. Salad crops and vegetables can usually be sown and grown from seed, or planted out under glass, in the spring. Or you can wait until the summer and plant them outside. If you are unsure ask at a garden centre, or check in a gardening book from the library.
It is best to position your tub, particularly if it is large, where you would like it to remain, as when it is filled with soil it will become very heavy. If your container has a wide flat bottom, raise it by placing it on some small bricks or a layer of pea shingle to assist drainage.
What to plant
Think about whether you would like to grow vegetables, fruit, flowers or shrubs because all can be grown in a tub (depending on the size of course).
Small fruit trees can be planted in big deep tubs. Runner beans can be encouraged to grow up a wigwam of long pea sticks. What about sweet peas that are easy to grow and produce vibrant summer colours? Sweet pea seedlings can be planted out in April. Sunflowers grow well in a deep thin pot but make sure you have placed the plant in a very sunny position next to a wall or fence, as the sunflowers may need additional support as they grow.
Alternatively plant your container with summer plants (small ones from the garden centre will not cost much) or think about growing flowers from seed.
Lettuces come in all shapes and sizes and grow very well in tubs - young lettuce plants will soon be available from local growers. Or you could grow a sweet-smelling herb garden in a tub and as the plants grow encourage the children to smell, taste and use the herbs in cooking or preparing salads.
Warning: Do not let tubs dry out! Daily watering is needed, particularly in the summer or if it has not rained for some time.
Rock garden in an old sink
Old sinks or troughs are great for rock gardens as they have a wide planting area and are just the right depth to look very attractive. Some of the best miniature gardens can be made in old sinks by using small rocks, different coloured gravels and a whole range of different textured and coloured plants and flowers.
* Place the sink in an open, airy position and raise it up on three bricks.
* Ensure that the end with the plughole is slightly lower to assist with drainage.
* Cover the bottom of the sink with large and medium sized stones or old broken terracotta pots, then spread a layer of gravel over the stones about 1cm thick.
* Add a mixture of soil and compost, checking which soil is suitable for the kind of plants you would like to grow.
* Now design your garden, deciding where you would like to place your plants. Consider adding height and interest by using small rocks. Plant your alpines, miniature dwarf trees and small bulbs, remembering to leave room for the plants to grow and spread.
* Gently cover the surface with different shingles or chippings. This will help to retain the moisture as well as enhancing the appearance of your miniature garden.
Hanging baskets
Although hanging baskets require quite high maintenance, as regular watering and feeding is required, their colour can really brighten up your club. Ready-planted baskets can be purchased but they are expensive and take the joy out of choosing your own plants. You could use a mixture of different types of trailing ivy, lobelia, which comes in vibrant pinks and blues, and trailing geraniums. Or you could make a feature of just one plant. Baskets of spring flowers can be prepared in September with an assortment of bulbs such as crocuses, snowdrops, tulips and miniature daffodils.
You will need
* A wire basket with chains to hang - the bigger the better
* Liner material - this could be moss, which looks more natural, or a plastic liner, but it must have holes poked through it to provide drainage
* Good quality compost
* Brackets and fixings
* Plants and flowers
To plant
Add a good layer of moss, or your plastic liner, to the basket and make drainage holes. Put in a thick layer of compost and place some of your small plants gently though slits in the moss. Add another good layer of compost and repeat as above, carrying on until your basket is filled.
Growing plants inside
Many plants can be grown inside as long as they have sufficient light, water and food, so make the best use of your window-sills and ask at a garden centre if you are unsure which plants to buy.
Cacti and succulents are cheap, low maintenance plants that don't need much watering and could be suitable if you have little time to give to plants - or a bad memory! They can be fascinating to look at, coming in all manner of shapes and sizes and can be great to draw. Many cacti also produce startlingly bright flowers. Why not start a collection?
Bonsai trees tend to be a specialist activity, and can be expensive, but anything in miniature will hold a particular fascination for children, so it may be worth looking out for them at your garden centre.
A word about water gardens
A large half-barrel, lined with a pond liner, makes an excellent small water garden. Miniature lilies, which can be planted out in warm weather this month, can be placed in this along with other aquatic plants - ask at your garden centre for advice. And what about getting a small pump fitted to make a water feature?
