WE’RE knee-deep in the school summer holidays and if you’re anything like me, you’ll be exhausted.
You might also be out of ideas for keeping the kids entertained — and off their screens and out of the snack cupboard.
Children’s gardening ambassador Lee Connelly with his daughter Olive Credit: JOHN McLELLAN
Gardening can help boost kids’ mental health Credit: Getty
You can solve all three problems by getting them outside gardening.
Data from countless studies shows it not only boosts their mental health and helps the fight against childhood obesity, it also makes them eat more vegetables.
Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter
Thank you!
Children’s gardening ambassador Lee Connelly has fought long and hard to get the Government to include the pastime as part of the national curriculum.
He told me: “Gardening gives children something that’s becoming increasingly rare — uninterrupted time with family.
LOOK OF LAV
Why you should consider lavender for your outside space – & three golden rules
CROP ‘N AWE
How to keep your tomatoes healthy in July before they’re ripe
“Away from screens and the distractions of modern life, a garden becomes a place where conversations happen naturally. You spend time together and real memories are made.
“I’ve seen this not only through my work with thousands of schoolchildren, but with my own daughter.
“Some of our happiest moments have been sowing seeds, watering plants and celebrating the first flower or harvest together.
“The plants are wonderful, but they’re not the greatest reward. The real win is the stronger bond we’ve grown.”
You don’t need to spend a fortune to keep kids happy in the garden, either. Try these ideas . . .
1. QUICK SALADS: Sow radishes, cress or salad leaves as they sprout in days and will give kids a massive sense of achievement.
2. CELERY HEART TRICK: Cut the base off a head of celery and place the stump in water. Watch the tiny central leaves grow then move it into the ground.
3. SUPERMARKET SPRING ONIONS: Save the white root bases of shop-bought spring onions and get the kids to place them root down in a shallow glass of water on a windowsill. They will sprout new green tops in days and can eventually be pushed into soil.
4. PINEAPPLE CROWN: Cut the leafy green top off a fresh pineapple. Strip away the bottom four layers of small leaves to reveal the bare stalk base. Suspend it over a jar of water using toothpicks. Watch thick, alien-like white roots burst out before planting it in soil.
5. PERSONAL PLANT MARKERS: Collect smooth garden stones or old ice-lolly sticks and let the kids paint them to label your veg and herbs.
6. POND IN A POT: Create a miniature wetland using a large bucket. Add gravel, water, an oxygenating weed and marginal plants to attract frogs and dragonflies.
Also in Veronica’s Column this week….
Top tips, gardening news, Plant of the Week and a gardening bundle competition
For more gardening content, follow me @biros_and_bloom
SAVE! GET your kids chilling outside with an outdoor beanbag. Next has a giant one, left, for £115 while B&Q has one in classic blue, right, for £49.99.
WIN! OUR pals at Robert Dyas are giving away a hammock and stand, worth more than £300, which is perfect for relaxing in.
To enter visit thesun.co.uk/hammockcomp or write to Jattvibe Gardening Hammock Competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP.
Include your name, age, email or phone. Entries close 11.59pm, August 15, 2026.
UK residents 18+ only. T&Cs apply.
LEARN! Q) FOR the last three years, the leaves of my phlox plants have been getting eaten. I’ve sprayed them and put slug pellets down. But what is the culprit?
Angela Bowman, via email
A) An adult vine weevil is most likely. The problem is the larvae, which stay underground and feed on plant roots. Buy beneficial nematodes (Steinernema kraussei) and water them into the soil during late summer to target the larvae. As for the adults, hand pick them at night.
THIS WEEK’S JOB: CUT back lavender once the flowers fade, pick tomatoes, dig up second early and main-crop potatoes, start thinking about ordering autumn flowering bulbs.
DROP-IN FUN FOR FAMILIES: FANCY taking the kids to a gardening workshop? Try these . . .
Seedlings Summer Rooftop Gardening: Weekly drop-in every Thursday to August 28 at Ty Pawb, Market Street, Wrexham.
Brick Explorers at RHS Hyde Hall, Chelmsford, Essex, until August 31.
Dobbies Garden Centres: Little Seedlings Club drop-in sessions. Check dobbies.com.
National Trust’s Summer of Play (with Pokemon): Daily until September 6 at hundreds of properties.
Urban Jungle Family Fridays throughout August at Chelsea Physic Garden in London.
It’s also worth checking the British Garden Centres and Blue Diamond Garden Centres websites to find out what your local centre is up to.
KING’S GARDEN: WINDSOR Castle has a new garden that has been transformed according to King Charles’s vision.
Originally called the East Terrace Garden, the new Venus Garden draws inspiration from the petal-like pattern created by the orbit of Venus.
It is open until September 13 and is included in the price of a Windsor Castle ticket.
Expect to see formal planting, wildflower meadows and sculpted yew hedging.
PLANT OF THE WEEK: PHARAOH Blue Eye thrives in dry soils. Get20 per cent off at thompson-morgan.com/sunoffers.
KEEN to get your kids off screens? Home Bargains has brought out Toy Story-themed gardening tools and toys for kids, starting at just £1.99.
