Why the "OVERgrowth?"

I sometimes get the complaint that the children’s garden is so "overgrown." This is a complaint of adult personages and not of children. Children seem to have no problem navigating the environment in which they find themselves. I thought of this particular comment yesterday as I was pruning the Little Leaf Lindens that stretch their arms over each side of the front garden gate. The bottom branches create a filtered view into the garden and a height requirement as adults must bend slightly or face branch brushing. Hershey Children’s Garden is built around immersion. The garden is designed as a full immersion experience with plant, flower, frog and dragonfly. As a gardener I want plants smacking you in the face. In this garden, people move for the plants and not the other way around.

Having said all that, I do take certain measures. My style of gardening is to provide a wild but controlled look to any space I manage. This is reflected most in the way woody plants are pruned. I prune to control growth so as to keep plants in scale with others or to provide filtered views or clear path ways. Kids do become intimidated when a path becomes too overgrown. We find kids do not choose a path if it is so congested that it looks like a scary place to be or an impenetrable barrier.
 

Changes Are A Comin’ to Our Sod Roof

If you are a regular visitor to Hershey Children’s Garden, you know that Garden staff members are constantly experimenting with new ideas to enhance the visitor experience. One of the favorite features of the garden, the sod house, is getting particular attention at the moment.

The sod house is a little play house set at the edge of the Children’s Garden prairie. Traditionally, the roof is annually planted with a wildflower sod mat. When I arrived, the flower mats were too expensive, so I went with a drought tolerant turf grass with wild flowers individually planted into the sod. Soon, all that will change.

This June, a team of contractors and garden staff are finishing work on enhancing the plant composition, as well as the structure itself. The entire wood frame has been rebuilt, and a rubber liner has been added along with modular planting trays used in conventional green roofs. The last phase will be seeding a mixture of low-mow grasses and native perennials. Come see the finished product soon!

Posted by Josh Steffen

This post is devoted to the Easter Egg Radishes ready to harvest in the Hershey Children’s Garden vegetable patch. I cannot wait to share them with some little green thumbs.

I often get the question: what are some easy, kid-friendly seeds to grow? Well, here is a short list:

• Sunflowers
• Any bean
• Corn
• Wheat
• Cotton
• Any squash, cucumber or pumpkin
• Watermelon
• Of course, radish

Now, why is the Easter Egg Radish one of my favorites? Well, first of all, the radish tends to mature within 21-30 days (so you can grow several crops in one season). Second, the seeds are large enough to handle. Third, the plants have large enough plant parts that you can talk about what grows above ground and what grows below ground. Lastly, with Easter Egg Radish, you never know exactly what color you are going to pull out of the ground. How cool is that?

Posted by Josh Steffen 

Dive In And Ask

Hi, my name is Josh, and I am a dumpster gardener. I am always asking other staff gardeners if they have plants they are planning on composting.  I like to brag about how much of the Children’s Garden’s annual plantings are started from seed. I also love to brag about how much fun it is to convince others that they would have a grand old time creating wonderful container arrangements in the garden.

There are some advantages and disadvantages to dumpster gardening. Consider these things in advance:

• Ask yourself, "Why is my gardening friend smiling at me ohh so sweetly as they hand me that extra zucchini plant?" Your "find" might be really aggressive or a tremendous self-seeder (not necessarily a bad thing). I planted columbine in one place hoping it would spread.
• Is the plant diseased? You can often nurse a sick plant back to health, but is it really worth all that extra work?
• You usually end up with the same types of plants as your neighbors.

Despite these risks, I highly recommend peaking into your fellow green thumbs’ yards and asking, "Hey what are you doing with that plant right there?" 

Posted Josh Steffen

A Tribute to My Mother

The redbuds are blooming quite prolifically in the Children’s Garden woodland at the moment, and they remind me of my mom. One of my mother’s favorite spring moments is the sight of redbud trees blooming throughout the Michigan countryside, and she has passed that love onto her son.

My mother and father both profoundly influenced their son’s interest in all things beautiful and natural. I came to appreciate gardening and eventually chose a horticulture career through the nasty chore of taking care of our yard.

Never underestimate your influence upon your children. One comment from you and your children may grow up to make the world a better place to live.

Posted by Josh Steffen

Godzilla in the Garden?

Yes, my heart officially stops beating for two months every spring as I watch little plants emerge and little feet converge. One law of physics I know is that two bodies cannot occupy the same physical space at the same time. Plant stems poking their heads above the soil line must feel much like the little people peering up at the feet of Godzilla as he comes stomping through New York.

Just in case you have not noticed, kids don’t use a "garden" like adults do. Adults love big pretty vistas, and kids love the ant crawling on the sidewalk. Adults walk past and comment on how wonderful the garden looks, while kids run straight for the object of their desire (regardless what might be in their "path").

I discovered that telling kids "no" in the Garden does not work (for very long). Asking a child not dig here or there (especially right where I sowed seeds) is like asking the big Hollywood lizard to not smash cars or pick up helpless pedestrians. 

So, what do I do? I change my mindset, place physical barriers and distract them.  I must first remember my user. Second, I place bamboo stake and twine fencing around certain areas that come to about waist height on older children. Last of all, I distract them. "Oh, cool, do you hear what I hear? What is that over there?"

Posted by Josh Steffen 

Vermicomposting Hershey Style

All this month, we are discovering the origins of soil in Hershey Children’s Garden. One of our most popular features is our vermicomposting (worm composting for short) unit.  I will not go into detail of how this system works beyond mentioning to always provide good drainage, moisture retention (they are not mutually exclusive) and feed them good vegetable (and egg shell) matter like lettuce, mushy carrots and fruit.

To learn more about worm composting and the wonderful world of wiggly worms, visit the Garden this spring.

Posted by Josh Steffen

Evaluation

I have been writing a series of posts about eight principles of education integrated into the design and activities of Hershey Children’s Garden and how you can use these principles with your little green thumbs.

Principle number eight: observe, learn and evaluate. I personally need to intentionally cultivate a habit of constant learning. My default mode is to work to set something up, make sure it is "functioning" and then forget about it. But how do I know the activity, garden feature or planting design worked? How do I know? I know by stepping back and observing. Hershey Children’s Garden works, because the Garden staff seeks new approaches and new methods. I learn by observing how kids are actually using Hershey Children’s Garden and then adapt what I do by approaching the world as they do.

I can say one thing with certainty - Working with kids in a garden is never boring. 

Posted by Josh Steffen

Adult Interaction

I have been writing a series of posts about eight principles of education integrated into the design and activities of Hershey Children’s Garden and how you can use these principles with your little green thumbs.

Principle number seven: You are critical to your child’s learning experience. In fact, you may be the most important element of your child’s learning experience. I have found that kids gain a deeper meaning from what they see if they have adult interaction. Young visitors learn a lot from just playing in Hershey Children’s Garden. Yet, instilling wonder and fascination, the bedrock of lifelong learning, only comes when we light the fire. This is why knowledgeable and enthusiastic garden staff members are critical to the success of what the designers of Hershey Children’s Garden intended. Staff members become part of the experience itself.

You may not feel very comfortable conveying "knowledge," because you are not into the science thing.  Don’t worry.  It is not knowledge, but rather fascination that holds the greatest importance. If you are into art or the social sciences, start there with your children. There is plenty of beauty, geometry and anthropological layers to our interactions with nature.

Posted by Josh Steffen

Meaningful Context Assists

I am writing a series of posts about eight principles of education integrated into the design and activities of Hershey Children’s Garden and how you can use these principles with your little green thumbs.

Principle number Six: Stories and Themes. Did you ever sit in math class (no offense to math teachers) and ask yourself, "Why on earth am I learning this formula?" I personally find it difficult to learn something without a relevant context for its use. What is the point of learning photosynthesis unless I know that gardening is ALL about manipulating this biological process?

One thing we try to accomplish here at Cleveland Botanical Garden is to incorporate the use of story whenever possible. Staff build programs and activities around stories. The use of story as a vehicle for learning provides relevant frameworks for WHY it is worth knowing something.

The Garden’s Eleanor Squire Library has an excellent selection of children’s books geared toward the natural sciences. So, spice up the time you have with your kids through a good story or two and then let them loose outside and see how they play and discover for themselves.

Posted by Josh Steffen