Dobbies encourage Suffolk children to get gardening

The UK’s leading garden centre retailer, Dobbies Garden Centres, announces its support for National Children’s Gardening Week, which runs from 23 to 31 May.

National Children’s Gardening Week, which is coordinated by the Horticultural Trades Association in conjunction with Greenfingers Charity, aims to capture children’s enthusiasm in gardening.

At the start of the week, Dobbies is launching a brand-new gardening podcast dedicated to gardening with children. Host, gardening writer Louise Midgley, is joined by Dobbies’ expert, Louise Golden, to answer a whole host of questions posed by children from across the UK. They will provide top tips and advice on making the most of family time in the garden.

Dobbies’ popular Little Seedlings Club, which now has a dedicated virtual offering, will have special content added to Little Seedlings at home, including how to grow a grass head, growing your own tomato plants and bee-friendly flowers. Dobbies will also be calling on families from Suffolk to showcase their photos of child-friendly gardening activities, to inspire others.

The chance to get creative will also be encouraged, with a competition for children to design their own miniature garden. This will be split into three age categories: age 4 to 5; age 6, 7 and 8; age 9, 10 and 11.

To enter, children will simply need to share a photo of their creation on the Dobbies Facebook page and tag @Dobbiesgc. An online gallery will be created from a shortlist selected by Louise Midgley with the public invited to vote for their favourite. A winner from each category will receive a children’s gardening bundle worth £50.

Graeme Jenkins, CEO at Dobbies, said: “Gardening is very much a family-friendly activity and over National Children’s Gardening Week we will be sharing a whole host of top tips from our experts to ensure families from Suffolk can have fun and get creative.

“We are looking forward to seeing the entries for the miniature garden competition and hope this inspires children to get gardening, no matter what kind of garden they have at home.”

James Barnes, Chair of the Horticultural Trades Association, said: “We know that the fun and engaging projects which run throughout National Children’s Gardening Week inspire children to learn about gardening as well as their wider environment and that gardening boosts their social, emotional and educational development.

“This is more relevant now than ever before as families face the huge challenges that come from the closure of schools throughout the UK as a result of Covid-19. There has never been a better time to spend in our gardens than now, as gardening benefits the mental health and wellbeing of so many people isolating at home.”

The Gardening with Children podcast, and the full podcast series, is available now: https://www.dobbies.com/content/podcast.html

For more information on Little Seedlings at home visit https://www.dobbies.com/content/littleseedlings.html