Bugs, insects, creepy crawlers, birds, butterflies – any living organism they can relate to are one of the biggest ways to engage children in the garden, according to Alrie Middlebrook. They also like getting their hands dirty and wet in worm bins, compost, ponds, and the vegetable garden, and they like seeing what's alive in the soil, she said.
Middlebrook heads the California Native Garden Foundation (CNGF), which offers garden-based classes for children in grades 2 to 8 at its outdoor learning laboratory in San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood through its ELSEE (Environmental Laboratory for Sustainability and Ecological Education) project.
The goals and hands-on approach of ELSEE are similar to those of the Living Classroom (LC), according to LC founder Vicki Moore. The Living Classroom program is used in Los Altos schools and was discussed in the March issue of the Living in Los Altos magazine supplement.
Both ELSEE and LC teach about plants not as individual, interchangeable entities, but as part of an ecosystem and in relation to the animals that depend on it.
To teach pollinator relationships, for instance, ELSEE starts with a butterfly. Following its life cycle, the children learn about that butterfly's host plants during its larval phase (caterpillar). They then learn about that same butterfly's nectar plants in its adult phase. The butterfly wouldn't be there without the plant, Middlebrook said, so a discussion of pollination leads back to the importance of plants in the ecosystem. Students learn about the parallel evolution of the butterfly and those specific host and nectar plants.
If you're planting a butterfly garden, it'd important to realize that host plants are eaten by caterpillars. If you want butterflies, expect plants to get munched.
To design kid-friendly gardens, Middlebrook focuses on protecting ecosystem services before choosing specific plants. Healthy ecosystems provide such services as pollination, nutrient cycling, water purification, and climate regulation. A good garden design allows the natural cycles and processes to operate, she said.
In practical terms, the design challenge is to avoid disrupting the natural systems, Middlebrook said. Here are some design elements that can help preserve ecosystem services.
California rose-bay, a native evergreen rhododendron, grows in the dappled shade between redwood trees.
To keep rainwater on site, use pavers instead of unbroken expanses of concrete. This path uses pieces of a former sidewalk as pavers, with tumbled glass in-between as a creative touch.
Native mock orange attracts butterflies and other beneficial insects. In the spring, this large shrub is covered with fragrant flowers.
© 2013 Tanya Kucak