A Children's Herb Garden

Planting Tips and Gardening Ideas For Kids

There is no better way to introduce young children to the healing properties of herbs than by giving them their very own herb garden to tend. Pharmacist/herbalist, Linda Volin-Robbins, suggests a circular garden surrounded by tall sunflowers with a twig stake tipi in the center as a place for the kiddies to crawl into and sit among the crawly critters while escaping from the world of grownups. This simple idea makes me want to be a kid again. If you like you could enlarge the garden scale for us bigger kids (adults).

Make a 15 by 15 foot circle in an open sunny space. Full sun is wonderful for the sunflowers planted around the perimeter of the garden. It will be fun as well as educational for the children to watch the faces of the sunflowers reaching in the direction of the sunlight, also the towering sunflowers will create patches of shade within the circle. Plant a vining plant that will creep up and cover the framed tipi, green peas is an excellent choice. Section off eight to ten segments in the mid section of the circle for various herb plantings. You may want to leave a couple of the sections bare or covered with mulch as crawl-ways to enter through to the center tipi.

Don't forget, children also like to put things in their mouths, dirt included. Be sure to select herbs that are completely safe for children. Whereas raspberries are a wonderful herb source, this prickly plant is not suitable for a child's garden.

Plant suggestions

• Lavender
• Lemon Balm(Melissa)
• Catnip
• Mint
• Rosemary
• Coriander(Cilantro)
• Parsley
• Thyme
• Basil
• Chamomile
• Marjoram
• Anise-Hyssop
• Sage
• Lemon verbena
• Skullcap

Gardening With Herbs