Spring

Garden Time

Submitted by sarahp on Thu, 04/25/2013 - 00:41

By:

NGA Staff

How can you tell time in the garden without using a watch? Check and see what’s blooming!

Flowers have amazing adaptations to attract pollinators. Their scent, colors, and shapes have evolved to draw these vital critters towards them, since in the process of collecting nectar, they also move pollen from flower to flower to ensure seed production and distribution.

Extra Special Eggs

Submitted by sarahp on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 01:23

By:

Sarah Pounders

This spring, try using natural dyes to decorate your Easter Eggs.

Cylinder Gardening

Submitted by sarahp on Mon, 02/25/2013 - 00:52

By:

Sarah Pounders

Right Side Box:

Download the Cylinder Gardening Lesson for more details.

A big gardening program…in a little garden space. Cylinder Gardening uses bottomless cylinders (1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket) as small, individual gardens for growing vegetables. Perfect for schools with limited growing space and poor soil, cylinder gardens require little land and minimal pre-gardening preparation or experience. Once the cylinders are filled and planted, the only labor is minor maintenance, watering and harvesting. Recommended plant varieties mature from seed in 30 to 90 days to fit within one school semester.

Stimulating Imagination in the Garden

Submitted by RoseJM on Tue, 08/14/2012 - 08:33

Building Fairy Houses

By:

Rose Judd-Murray

Right Side Box:

Fairy Houses (The Fairy Houses Series)

Author: Tracy Kane

ISBN: 978-0970910458

With young children, there are few lazy days of summer. Most days are filled with intense constructive projects from blanket forts to tree houses, and from sandcastles to bean teepees. Kids love creating these special spaces.

Looking for Opportunities to Grow

Submitted by cynthiad on Mon, 07/16/2012 - 11:10

By:

Becky Wivagg with Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff

Right Side Box:

Looking for Activites to Help Youth Grow?

Download these free attachments and get your students outside!

Discover a Rain Garden (PDF) »
Discover a Sensory Garden (PDF) »

Sharing the Love: Spreading Seeds

Submitted by RoseJM on Mon, 06/11/2012 - 00:00

By:

Rose Judd-Murray, NGA Staff

Right Side Box:

How-To: Make A Seed Bomb

Materials:

Clay (purchase at craft stores)
Compost or potting soil
Seeds (we recommend easy-to-grow or native varieties)

Bring this activity home, or share it in the classroom with these easy step-by-step directions (PDF). »

Taking a walk together as a family is a great way to teach your kids about varieties of flowers, shrubs, and trees. It's an unstressful time to engage and allow them to ask questions about their own local environment.

Growing BIG in the Great Outdoors

Submitted by cynthiad on Tue, 02/28/2012 - 10:12

By:

Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff

Right Side Box:

Bonnie Plants’ Third Grade Cabbage Program is a free program offered to third grade classrooms nationwide. The purpose is to support youth to eat healthy and be garden advocates. To support this purpose, Bonnie Plants offers resources online to help students grow their cabbage. In addition, lesson ideas and recipes are provided along with help for teachers and parents. Visit the Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program website for more details about registration.

You can also view a complete list of the Third Grade Cabbage Program scholarship winners for 2011 for each state.

Being outside has so much to offer; whether you are a gardener or not, there is a place for you in the Great Outdoors. Each year, thousands of third graders nationwide find a special place outside by participating in a program which challenges them to grow an oversized cabbage.

The Beginning of a Library Garden

By:

Cynthia Domenghini, NGA Staff

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NGA's Own LibraryGardens.org

Libraries have a unique opportunity to provide a visual connection between literature and nature. Grants are available to support library gardens, but often require someone with a vision. National Gardening Association offers assistance in this area. Whether you’re interested in developing a particular theme garden or a garden that encompasses a variety of books, our professional staff of landscape architects, horticulturists and educators can help you develop your vision. Visit Library Gardens for more information about how we can design your library garden which will in turn help you as your seek support for funding the installation of this space.

The Village of Plain City Garden features several animal topiaries named after classic authors.In an effort to preserve the historic Village of Plain City, Ohio, local gardeners and members of the county Master Gardener program pulled their resources to establish a landmark for the town.

Salsa Garden

Submitted by sarahp on Thu, 04/25/2013 - 00:04

By:

Sarah Pounders

Right Side Box:

Download the Gro1000 "Grow a Salsa Garden" Workbook

Growing a salsa garden is an easy and delicious way to spotlight cultural history and teach about nutritious foods.

National Gardening Association teams up with Scott's Miracle Gro in the 2013 GRO1000 Gardens and Green Spaces Award Program

Submitted by juliad on Tue, 04/02/2013 - 13:46

By:

NGA Staff

Right Side Box:

Sponsor

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Scotts Company LLC, is the world's largest marketer of branded consumer products for lawn and garden care, with products for professional horticulture as well. The Company's brands are the most recognized in the industry. In the U.S., the Company's Scotts^®, Miracle-Gro^® and Ortho^® brands are market-leading in their categories, as is the consumer Roundup^® brand, which is marketed in North America and most of Europe exclusively by Scotts and owned by Monsanto. In the U.S., we operate Scotts LawnService^®, the second largest residential lawn care service business. Visit us at www.scotts.com.

National Gardening Association is proud to announce our partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Scotts Miracle-Gro in the 2013 GRO1000 Gardens and Green Spaces Award program.