51ºÚÁÏ

A collection of photos from my own adventures in gardens and gardening as well as some colouring pages I created for my students. Perfect for National Garden Month and topics exploring minibeasts, plants, ecology, and wildlife. "Spring is coming on strong and, according to the calendar, is technically already here by the time this month rolls around. And for those who have not already begun looking at planting this year’s garden–it’s time to get a move on right away! How To Celebrate National Garden Month Enjoying and observing National Garden Month can take on a variety of different forms. Try out a few of these ideas or come up with some of your very own. Since the month has 30 days, there should be time to get really creative! Study Up on Gardens of the World One really great way to start celebrating National Garden Month would be by studying all the different types of gardens in the world. Whether checking out a book from the library on the architecture of formal English gardens or watching a documentary about the water, stones and plants that make up a Chinese garden, this is a great way to celebrate this month. Visit a Botanical Garden Many cities offer a botanical style garden that is open to the public, even if it is still too cold outside to start your own garden yet. New York City, London, Los Angeles, and Tokyo are just a few major cities that offer easy access to the joys of visiting a botanical garden. Botanical gardens provide visitors with the ability to enjoy, learn about and appreciate exotic plants that may not be possible to grow locally. With greenhouses, garden areas and even butterfly houses, they are a load of fun to visit! Start a Compost Area Gardens need loads of fertilizer and composting the old matter from the garden is a great way to make it sustainable. It doesn’t even require a special container to compost, just a bit of attention. Throw that garden waste into a separate container and let it decompose over several weeks, turning it every 3-7 days to let it work faster. Create a Small or Large Garden For those who may find themselves intrigued or inspired by the idea, it might be a good pursuit to make plans and set about creating a garden of their own during this National Garden Month. Gardens don’t have to be large, so even those who live on a small plot in the city with a mere sliver of a yard could still have their own little piece of gardening paradise. Don’t even have that much space? It’s time to invest in a selection of pots and make your own potted herb or flower garden on those windowsills. Gardens can be anywhere, and just about anyone can be a gardener!National Garden Month is for all of those people with green thumbs, new gardeners and old hands alike, to embrace their love of gardening. History of National Garden Month Gardens have always played an important role in the history of human culture, from sources of food and sustenance to locations for leisure and entertainment. They have even been used to produce natural medicinals used in the home and by holistic medical practitioners. The word garden traces its roots to Middle English, French, and German languages. In the United Kingdom, this word specifically describes a small enclosed piece of land that is placed next to a building, which might only contain grass. However, in the United States, the term garden has more to do with a place where someone would plant and grow things such as flowers, fruits or vegetables. Multiple types of garden exist in the world, all of which are dependent on the primary purpose and the list of things that are contained in the garden. For instance, in arid regions some people may choose to have Cactus Gardens. In other places, gardeners may aim for a particular style of aesthetic, such as a Bonsai garden or a Dutch Garden rife with tulips with an eye to efficiency and a density of foliage. Gardens have also been used to create new habitats and resting places for bees, butterflies, seasonal birds, and other delightful creatures of nature, making them both beautiful and able to aid these creatures whose natural habitats may be diminishing in some places in the wild. While most home gardens tend to be incredibly informal and relaxed, there are also far more formal gardens that adhere tightly to a given style. French Formal and Italian Renaissance gardens adhere to a particular style, and Knot Gardens are extremely formal with specific guidelines that govern their designs. National Garden Month is a great time to research gardens and learn more about them. National Garden Month itself is a fairly recent observance. It started with National Garden Week when, in 1986, US President Ronald Reagan signed a declaration to make the observance official the following year in 1987. Realizing that only seven days simply could never be long enough, National Garden Month was born in 2003– and people have been celebrating this important occasion during each springtime ever since. Now it’s time to get started with the celebrations for National Garden Month this year!

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