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Please help! Advice needed on gardening equipment suitable for use with children...

6 replies

fallenoverflowerpot · 31/10/2011 20:04

Hello there,
I'm hoping someone here has some good advice on particular bits of kit that will be good to use with children: I am helping to kit out a (childcare) nursery so that we can do some food-growing.
We're starting with absolutely nothing, though we have a reasonable pool of people to borrow from, so don't need to (for e.g.) own our own wheelbarrow. We also can't store huge amounts of kit.

My list so far is

(for children)
Hand forks
Hand trowels
Watering cans

(for adults - again, we can probably borrow some of this)
Fork
Spade
Rake
Hose

Does anyone have any advice on other things we should get?

Also, what, specifically, would you recommend?

For example, on hand tools I'm dithering between Joseph Bentley metal tools and Fiskars plastic ones Has anyone any experience of either, or of alternatives?

Likewise, on hoses, do you think we'd be better off with a standard reel one, or one of the slinky-like ones like this?

Please advise!!

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inmysparetime · 01/11/2011 19:25

Definitely metal tools, also look on RHS website for activities to do with kids, also free seeds if you're luckyGrin Homebase website also have good advice and sometimes free seeds too.
The woodland trust have lots of plant spotter activities.
Equipment: I would add a kneeler for at least adults, so you don't get soggy knees.
Tyres can be sourced from e.g. Garages and are great for growing potatoes in.
Perhaps you could build raised beds, they're much easier to work with (my nursery's are 2ft by 4ft, about 18in tall)

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fallenoverflowerpot · 01/11/2011 21:25

Thank you! Why, out of interest, do you think the metal ones are better? (the plastic ones are intended for use in horticultural nurseries, so I'm assuming they're 'real' tools, if you see what I mean).

RHS, will look up what they have - great idea, thank you. And I didn't know the woodland trust was a good resource too.

We're going to have raised beds, assuming that we can persuade someone to give us nice free timber, but I'm sure we'll still need kneelers too. Oh dear, I know that as soon as an adult has one ALL the children will want one too!

Specific advice on nice small watering cans (plastic, probably no more than 1 litre or so) and hoses would be v gratefully received!

Am plotting our fruit trees and bushes too - slightly horrified by the prices things like red currants seem to go for... and trees aren't cheap either. Any must-haves amongst the trees and bushes (trees will all need to be wall-trained...)

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inmysparetime · 02/11/2011 07:02

Kids chew plastic stuff including tools, which you really don't want to encourage with tools!
B&Q do corporate responsibility and are worth an ask for timber.
Ken Muir do dwarf espalier double trees (I have some in my garden!)
They need about 1m of wall, self pollinate, but cost about £50 each, although that will get you fruit every year, two different varieties and they are only about 1.5m tall.
Raspberries and blackberry canes are much cheaper to train up walls, and are easy to plant, but get thornless if possible.

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mrscountryrose · 04/11/2011 15:00

I am a gardener and use to run a garden club at primary school. For the children plastic tools cheap and lightweight. Do use raised beds. Contact a local timber merchant and they may donate timber for a bit of free publicity smiling children in a photo in the local paper. Use the smallest watering cans you can for the children, they are heavy when full and if they fall over they wont get to wet.
You can train trees against a wall just look for a tree with a few good pliable boughs. I would choose soft fruits as the children love picking them and eating them off the plant, this goes for tomatoes too, I had children who never liked them until they picked them off the plant, go for the small variety such as sunburst. Also grow carrots but beware some children can get upset about killing caterpillars etc. If I can be of any help just ask away. Running a garden club is great fun but hard work

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fallenoverflowerpot · 09/11/2011 12:48

Oh, you are kind - thank you! I will definitely be back for more advice once we get started properly. I need to find some other folk to help out as (inconveniently for the planting season) I'm expecting a spring baby, so may be a bit preoccupied just then!

Specifically at this point, do you have any pointers on timber for raised beds? I'm getting really mixed advice from folk. We've been offered untreated softwood 'sleeper'-like boards (left over from a construction project). They're about 2.5" thick, and not splinter-free. No capping unless we make it. Do you think this will do? Do we need to treat the wood/line the beds? Would you go for beds that are just a single plank high, or two planks high? The beds will be very narrow, probably no more than 2.5' (so that children can reach to the middle). Although we don't have any money to waste (well, we don't have any money at all just now), I'd much rather put things in right and have them last for a good long time, than find ourselves having to replace the beds in a few years time.

Also, do you have any specific recommendations on watering cans or hoses? Do you think the standard kind is better, or should we get a slinky one (see my original post for links)?

Am feeling quite inspired to get going with all this, though also very aware of just how thin our resources are when compared to schools' - we only have 24 children, so there aren't many helpers/sources of donations...

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mrscountryrose · 09/11/2011 23:54

I would go for beds 12" high this gives a good depth of soil and better for you less bending down also it means that the children can sit on the edge of the beds, great for when you are explaining stuff to them.The timber you have been offered seems fine. Do not treat the wood as some of these treatments can leach into the soil. If the wood is 2" thick it will last a long time. This is a good time to plan your beds out. If possible have four beds and this will make it easier for crop rotation.

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