Gardening is a great activity that the whole family can get involved in, especially as the weather starts to brighten up.

After all, gardening can: 

• Encourage you all to spend more time outside
• Improve your mental health and encourage mindfulness
• Reduce feelings of stress
• Ensure you get as much use out of your garden as possible 
• Add value to your home and property 
• Provide you with the opportunity to bond with your kids 

However, if you’re not much of a green thumb yourself, it can be hard to know where to start. Thankfully, that’s where this guide comes in. Read on to find out more (and transform your garden).

Top Tips For Transforming Your Garden As A Family.

Buy the right tools and accessories. Before you can get started on gardening as a family, you need to make sure you have the right tools and accessories at hand. This means that you need to buy tools for both adults and children. For example, you can often find smaller versions of accessories, such as trowels, that are easier for children to use when helping out.

You should also make sure you invest in the tools you need to keep your garden looking its best, such as an electric lawn mower. This means that your garden will look neat and uniformal moving forward, as opposed to being an overgrown mess that you don’t want to spend time in. 

Have a plan in mind. You wouldn’t start redecorating your home without having a plan in mind for how you’d like it to look when you’re done. The same should be said for your garden. As such, you may find it useful to write down a list of how you’d like to use your garden moving forward and how you’d like it to look.

For example, you may want to set up a designated area within the garden to use as an entertainment space or a play area for your children. Either way, the more specific you can be moving forward, the better. 

By letting your children offer up their own ideas, you’re showing them just how much you value their opinion. This kind of agency is sure to elevate their confidence levels moving forward, while also ensuring that they are as excited as possible for your new project.

Keep it simple. When gardening as a family, it’s best to keep it simple. For example, you should focus on growing plants and flowers that are known for being relatively low-maintenance. This way, you can get great results without having to spend all of your free time in the garden. Some of the best plants to grow with kids include sunflowers, strawberries and tomatoes – however, you have plenty of options to choose from.

Give everybody their own ‘job’. In order to truly transform your garden, you need to take care of the space throughout the entire year. One way in which you can make this possible is by assigning everyone in the family their own outdoor job. For example, you may want to take care of the heavy-duty jobs, such as mowing your lawn and pruning any plants or trees, while your kids are tasked with watering your plants daily.

This is a great way to teach your children to be more responsible, as they’ll learn more about what happens when they continue to work towards or nourish something. 

Find ways to make gardening fun for kids. As an adult, you may enjoy the peace and tranquillity that gardening brings. Or, you may find it easier to focus on the bigger picture, knowing that the work you put in now will yield great results in the future. This is somewhat harder for children, which means that you may need to get a little creative when it comes to finding ways to keep them as engaged as possible. 

Fortunately, there are many different ways in which you can achieve this goal. For example, you could make them more excited about the idea of gardening by setting up a ‘themed’ garden. For example, they may be more willing to spend time taking care of a fairy garden, or a monster-themed garden (both of which can be achieved by simply hiding figurines throughout the space). Alternatively, you may want to incentivise participation by letting them earn pocket money or other privileges when agreeing to help.

Write down a to-do list. Writing down a to-do list and displaying it somewhere the whole family can see (such as on the fridge) is a great way to make sure you’re all working to keep your garden in top shape. After all, it means that you are less likely to forget to complete the essential tasks that keep your garden looking its best.

Make sure you enjoy the space. Another way in which you can ensure that you’ll stay on top of your gardening moving forward is by making sure that you actually use the space. This means that you’ll feel more inclined to keep it looking its best, as you’ll be spending more time out there. 

Again, there are many ways in which you can make sure you’re utilising your outdoor space as much as possible. For example, you could host BBQs or garden parties when the weather allows, or simply eat some of your meals outside. If you’re going to be spending the afternoon relaxing at home, do so outside instead of sitting in front of the TV for hours. You could also turn this into a learning opportunity. For example, you could research different insects and wildlife and then spend time searching for them in your garden.
Final thoughts. In short, there are many steps that you can take to transform your garden, all while spending time as a family. This is a particularly great activity to start working on now, as it means your garden will look its best during the summer months, allowing you to make the most of this time (and the nice weather).