Now is the time of year to evaluate what happened in the gardens and to think about improvements for next year. If your gardens are like ours, there may be some aspects you wish to change as well. If the children's garden turned out rather messy and wild looking, you may consider thinking about design changes for the new year. We want the children to have control of their garden, but we know they will be happier and more satisfied if the garden looks nice. Spontaneously casting seeds, planting wherever without prior thought, and not understanding some design principles can lead to chaos.
Chaos can be fun, but order makes the garden pleasant to be around.
We may have planted tall plants in front and small plants behind where they disappeared from sight. Height and width of mature plants need to be considered for good garden design. If you buy your plants and seeds, tags or packets often will state how big the plants get at maturity and how closely to plant the seedlings. Use this information to help you and your child decide where the plants should go. Big plants go to the rear of the bed generally and the smaller ones go closer to the front.