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Cowboys and Indians
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Gardening, while keeping children amused is much easier and more fun if you have a theme while you work, and a 'Cowboys and Indians' theme will definitely take their fancy. Create a tepee on the lawn, a totem pole and a fake fire and with some feathers in your hair and a tall Indian tale or two around the fire the children, and you, will enjoy the gardening all the more!
An edible tepee
While the fun and games are going on, creating an edible tepee, can be your first task. Make a frame using three bamboo canes and sow different types of beans on either side. The bean plants grow very fast and will soon turn the tepee green. Apart from the lovely flowers, the children will also enjoy watching the runner beans or pea pods develop and children from about the age of 5 can also harvest and then prepare a nice home-grown meal. Try placing a hanging basket with hanging strawberries in the middle of the tepee or grow some 'King size' trellis strawberries up one of the poles for a tasty snack or desert.
The rainbow tepee
Besides your 'bean' tepee, a garden should also have a floral tepee. Sow some sweet peas around bamboo canes and in no time at all, the plant will climb up the pole with its twisting shoots. Sweet peas are also great for lovely posies.
Impomoea is another fast growing climber. Help it along by tying it up every now and again and it will reward you with a waterfall of blue flowers. Plant a Clematis Montana at the base of the third cane for masses of pretty pink flowers.
Chiwawa garden
An Indian garden must have some native Indian plants of course. In particular, the super fast growers like Sweet Corn, Pumpkin, Gourds, Melons and Sunflowers are very popular with children. The lush flowering and lovely scented Monarda (Bergamot plant) is a native American plant and should therefore also be given a place in this theme garden. The Oswego Indians used this plant for making tea, and indeed Earl Grey is still perfumed with its aroma.
The tomato 'Totem' (F1 hybrid) is also a must, if only because of its name. Besides that, however, it produces huge crops of succulent tomatoes and can also be grown in a pot.
Your totempole
If you have an old dead tree in the garden, you can quickly turn it into a fantastic totem pole. Alternatively, why not paint up one leg of a set of swings in wild patterns and colours.
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