The butterfly garden at our home is very much up and running for a second year in a row with my daughter at the helm. Yay!

And being that it is year two there are some new strategies the family has put into action to help this garden thrive for the benefit of all.

First and foremost a garden of this size requires helpers for weeding, mowing, and watering while the gardener keeps adding and adjusting plants as needed and making sure they all compliment one another both in the timing of their bloom and providing the space required in addition to monitoring the health of the overall garden.

For me and my brown thumb this means I get to assist ONLY when my daughter has identified the specific plants she considers weeds and then I get to hunker down for a session of plucking and chucking. Pointing out exactly what needs to go is especially important since her butterfly garden has many plants that may be considered “weeds” by some and yet they are actually beneficial plants to butterflies and other pollinators. In this regard I am very happy to be “told what to do”. Typically it takes a few 2 hour sessions a week, preferably in the cool morning or cooler days, to keep the weeds from getting out of control. It is time well spent as I soak up all the sights and sounds of nature around me and enjoy viewing the garden from my bedroom windows and every time we step out our front door.

Meanwhile, the mowing of the pathways has been happening every one to two weeks during the spring while everything is super green and growing. As we head into summer mode the mowing begins to trail off a bit and the watering becomes a focal point again IF mother nature hasn’t provided enough rain showers to keep the plants thirst quenched (which for now we are unusually dry and in a heat wave – water please!).

More P.L.A.Y. in Place Family Gardening HERE

This P.L.A.Y. series is for everyone!

• If you are new to gardening this series is designed to encourage you and your family to take small steps towards growing foods and flowers of any kind and any amount.
• If you’ve tinkered with gardening in the past and things didn’t always work out this series is here to encourage you to try again AND do it as a family focusing on each individuals strengths to help it all come together.
• This series will offer up suggestions for basic leaping off points where you and your family can begin and choose to deep dive or keep it simple in the world of gardening.
• Most of all this series will be a source of encouragement and hopefully an inspiration to simply get in the dirt (aka garden) and P.L.A.Y. and the rest will “bee what it will bee”.

P.L.A.Y. – Pass it on!