Gardening helps today’s children blossom

A poll by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) reveals that more than eight in ten parents garden with their children.

More than half said it gave their children a sense of responsibility, while almost 20 per cent said it calmed their behaviour.

A full 60 per cent agreed that it helped youngsters know the origin of food, and another 20 per cent said gardening was an activity grandparents could be involved in.

But the survey also raised concerns that today’s parents have become a lost generation, with less horticultural education than their children.

Almost half of the parents questioned said their children knew more or the same amount about gardening as they do, and four-fifths said their own parents know more or the same about gardening as they do.

Sue Biggs, director-general of the RHS, said: “When children learn to garden, it is a skill that stays with them for life.

“This is evident from the grandparents we surveyed, among whom nearly 80 per cent say they like to garden, and more than a third grow their own fruit and vegetables.

“But with 65 per cent of parents admitting that their own parents know more about gardening than they do, and nearly half believing their own children, aged four to 11, have equal or better horticultural knowledge than themselves, it would seem today’s parents are shy of volunteering their time, probably due to a lack of knowledge.

“These findings suggest that today’s parents, who attended school during the 1980s and 1990s, missed out on a huge opportunity, especially as gardening dropped off the agenda.”

The RHS warned that a lack of gardening instruction at school had left today’s generation of parents without horticultural knowledge. Fewer than 1 per cent were taught to garden by a schoolteacher, compared with 55 per cent of grandparents and 40 per cent of children.

The RHS said they are urging adults to garden in October through their Get Your Grown-ups Growing initiative, which includes 31 Scottish schools.