“For my life, I confess to you, feels somewhat narrow and circumspect.”
— Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
The charming adventures of Mole, Rat (actually a European water vole), Toad and Badger are told by Kenneth Grahame, a Scottish novelist in his 1908 classic “The Wind in the Willows.” The author used bedtime stories told to his son Alastair as a basis for the manuscript.
I recently was looking through the lovely Inga Moore abridged and illustrated 2000 version of the classic for some inspiration. My watercolor painting class is on hiatus, and I’ve been attempting to find photos or pictures for inspiration. I am new to art in general, but it has been a calming activity these solitary days.
I settled on an illustration of Toad Hall, a magnificent home pictured in every edition. Many say it was based on Mapledurham House, part of the real Edwardian England.
This led me to wonder about where Kenneth Grahame actually grew up. It turns out that, although born in Edinburgh, his childhood was spent exploring Quarry Wood and River Thames. This was from the home base of a spacious, dilapidated house called the Mount, where he and his siblings were raised by his grandmother in the village of Cookham, outside of London.
The connection to gardening came when I realized that part of the popularity of these stories is tied to the pastoral setting they evoke. It’s a place of hidden mystery and danger of woods and water. It’s also a place of formal gardens with urns, fanciful topiary, expansive lawns and lush shrubbery.
I don’t have Kenneth Grahame’s fairy-tale type English setting in my neighborhood, but there are things I can do to make my yard appealing for children of all ages.
Children benefit in many ways by spending time in natural settings, according to Evelyn J. Hadden in her book, “Beautiful No Mow Yards.” These include “higher self-esteem, improved ability to concentrate, more creative and cooperative play, and increased self-direction.” There is also a reduction in stress.
While lawns and playsets are helpful, Hadden feels that having environments where kids can be exploring, imagining, hiding, and dreaming, as well as where they are “using different senses, playing creatively and socially, and interacting with other species” is most desired.
This all seems like a tall order, but it is something nature centers and botanical gardens have been doing for some time. Even incorporating a few of their ideas can help create a “wilder” more fun play area at home. Here are some general suggestions:
– Make opportunities for running, hiding, and climbing by creating natural loops, pathways, tunnels, rope ladders, raised platforms, and teepees. A suggestion for the ultimate adventure garden is to provide a place where a child can run around, hide in, and climb up when being chased – all in one. Fragrant ground covers, secret shrub caves, trailing vines and colorful flowers (both annuals and perennials) are suggested to stimulate all the senses;
– “Props” to stimulate creativity and play can include toys as well as other more general items brought into the yard. An example are the colorful scarves provided in a bottomless basket that are used for dances and dress-up in the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Va. Natural plant materials like pods, cattails, maple whirlybirds and seeds also are used by children in all kinds of creative ways;
– Think in terms of plants and animals that would be appealing to children, whether sitting, lying or walking and plant them around play areas. These could be waving grasses, edible plants like vegetables, herbs, and berries and plants that are touchable. Unusual plants that are large (like elephant ears or banana plants) or soft (like thyme or lambs’ ear), for example, have different sizes, shapes and textures and provides memories;
– Be sure to check the toxicity of anything planted around children and emphasize that a garden is home to many animals and insects.
If space is very limited, there are still gardening activities that can be done on a porch or around any natural area. A publication called “Gardening with Children,” published by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, has practical ideas and tips for gardening with children.
Here are the condensed directions for their Butterfly Window Box:
– Assemble a window box that will fit on your windowsill (or other container), potting soil and shallow bowl or jar lid, flat stones or small pieces of wood, and annual flower seedlings like marigolds, dwarf zinnias, globe amaranth and petunias
– Fill the window box almost up to the top with potting soil. Put a small amount of soil and then a bit of water in the jar lid and nestle it into the soil. This is a butterfly puddle (it will use it to drink water and get nutrients from the soil);
– Transplant the flowers into the box, putting ones with the same type of flower together:
– Arrange some stones or wood in the soil around the flowers for the butterflies to bask upon;
– Set the window box on a safe observable spot outside a window;
– Water the garden regularly and refresh the butterfly “puddle:”
– Keep a record of any butterflies that come to visit. Which flowers attract the most? What type(s) of butterflies are there? What time of day do you see the most? What behaviors do you see?
We may only be able to use our imaginations to ride with Toad in his adventures in “The Wind and the Willows,” but our children can still explore their own secret gardens close to home.
