Greenhouses for kids

When I was little, my granddad had a greenhouse that I was never allowed to enter. I must have spent a fair percentage of my pre-teenage years with my nose pressed to the whitewashed glass of its lower windows, trying to work out what mysteries were inside, and what the intoxicating fragrances of pipe tobacco, geranium leaf and potting compost were all about.

With age comes wisdom, and now I know my granddad probably only wanted a bit of peace and quiet! But the tradition of keeping children out of greenhouses continues, and it’s a real shame, because a greenhouse is not only a safe and fascinating environment, it can provoke a lifelong love of gardening. After all, it’s much more fun to be a gardener indoors out of the rain than trudging around in the mud and cold.

Little ones can help water plants, or fill up the bottom inch of pots with gravel to act as drainage, or if they are careful, even to pinch off dying leaves or dead flowers from plants.

You might want to think about setting up a sand box for your small children or grandkids, because a sandpit inside the greenhouse protects the children from strangers and keeps them in one safe place when you can’t be around every second to watch them, protects the sand from cats and other horrible creatures that thing sandpit spells toilet, and it gives some quality time to all of you, as you work on your plants and they can have fun playing in the sand without losing their toys or having older children wreck their games.