Childminders Gardening Blog by Marion Keogh
Summer Gardens
Summer is here and, although the Solstice has now passed, the long, bright evenings are still a wonderful time to enjoy the outdoors with children. The Summer Solstice is steeped in magical stories and mysticism, making it a great opportunity to explore some of Ireland’s ancient heritage. A trip to the Hill of Uisneach would be a fantastic thing to do with children. You can see at least 15 counties from the top and it’s a great walk up the hill. It feels very spiritual up there and you really connect back to hundreds of years of visitors paying homage to the sun and to the land. The place is full of Hawthorn trees and bushes too which legend has it is where the Fairies live. Keep your eyes peeled! Staying up late to see the last of the sun setting on the Solstice is also very special. You can get kids to write a poem about the longest sunset of the year.
Insects
Summer is the best time of year to observe insects outside in the garden, in a park or just out and about. Nettles are great to find Butterflies, Bees love all flowering plants especially Poppies, Woodlice love to hide under pieces of wood or a log pile. Why not make your own Log Pile? It couldn’t be easier. Gather old bits of branches, timber, wood, twigs, rotting tree trunks… any old wood. Pile it on top of each other but not too high that it would fall over. And leave it alone for a few weeks. Check back by lifting some of the wood to see the insects creeping and crawling through the wood pile. They are eating away at the wood and helping to create better soil underneath. They’ll also attract more Birds into the garden so that’s always a winner.
Encourage the children to kneel down and to get up close and personal with the insects in your Log Pile. Keep it away from the house if you’re concerned about the wildlife coming into the house. There are great Bug Detective kits out there with binoculars and notebooks. They can draw them or take photos but any documentation can lead to some Project work which can be undertaken on rainy days.
And don’t forget the Worms. Kids can dig into the soil in a flowerbed or even the grass and let them search for worms. There are always lots in under a sod of grass.
Plants
Tons of flowering plants are for sale in supermarkets, garden centres, hardware shops and even in petrol stations right now. There’s no excuse to get some new colour into your garden! Marigolds, Verbena, Nepeta, Geraniums…. Tons of colour. You want to give the children an easy way to learn how to dig a hole and to plant a plant into the hole and then to fill the soil back over the plant to make it firm in the ground. Then always water it for a week or two. Then watch how bees and birds and other flying insects come along to pollinate the flowers. That’s making seeds to you and me.
If you have no soil then plant some plants into large pots in the garden. Don’t be afraid to go big with your pots – the plants will thank you for it. Even if you have a north facing space with not much sunshine, lots of plants will thrive there. Ferns, Epimediums, Hellebores, Ornamental Grasses, Geraniums are all shade-loving plants. Hostas are too but they are also like a McDonald’s for slugs and snails. But you could plant a Hosta and watch the molluscs chowing down.
Propogation
This is the area of a bit of hocus hocus when it comes to growing plants and gardening. Growing new plants from existing ones. Herbaceous Perennials can be divided at this time of year – some plants can grow too big and flop over so they can be dug out of the ground and you put a spade through the middle and cut it in two. And if it’s large enough you can then divide those two halves into two more halves to give you 4 new plants. This works with plants like Nepeta, Agapanthus, Geraniums, Alstroemeria, Geums etc etc. Look it up on the RHS website. Safer to do during the dormant time of year but if you divide now they should be okay once you water them a lot.
With herbs like Thyme and Mint, cut a small stem, clear off most of the leaves, drop it into a jar of clean water and leave it for 4 or 5 days on a window sill so it gets lots of light. Take it out and look closely – you should see tiny roots forming on the stem. This also works with Fuchsia.
Clean out the water and go again with clean water in the same jar. The roots will grow longer. After a few weeks you can plant the cutting into some good compost and hey presto you’ve made a new plant! Try it. It’s an excellent lesson in patience.
But don’t plant Mint into the flowerbed because it is so easy to grow it will take over! So always plant Mint in its own pot. Pop a sprig of Mint into some hot water with a little sugar for the most gorgeous drink.
Listen
The Birds are still chirping away early in the mornings and into the long evenings. If you have any Bird Boxes do keep an eye out for baby fledglings on their first flight out. Or Listen if you can hear then chirping for more food. They can make some racket.
Leave any messy corners messy in the garden if you can safely. “Messy” for us humans can mean unsightly, dangerous for small people, something you didn’t get around to tidy up…. But “Messy” for Birds, Insects, Mice and other garden wildlife means somewhere safe to breed, lay eggs, to feed and to hide. So it is really worthwhile having a messy corner if you have the space. Get the kids to help make it with bits of wood, garden waste, even old building rubble is fantastic for habitats.
Eat
There are so many edible plants you can plant with children and they can eat them afterwards too. Lettuces, Courgettes, Herbs, Carrots, Peas and Beans are all super easy to grow outside in an Irish Summer. They’ll need to minded by watering, staking if they grow tall, pick off slugs and snails if you can and make sure they get as much sunshine as they can. There is nothing better than eating fresh peas straight from the plant. Lettuces are so easy to grow in the ground and they’re very nutritious. Make a good French Dressing to douse them in – a dessert spoon each of French Mustard and Wine Vinegar in a jar with the lid on and shake it. Then add the same amount of Olive Oil and shake it again with the lid back on. Keep adding more Olive Oil and shake it until you have a nice emulsified consistency. Drizzle it over your salad greens, lettuces, Rocket and with some cheese and bread you’ll have a gorgeous summer salad.
June 2026