September is the bright and vibrant start of the Spring season. Your garden perks up and is painted with colour!
Sunflowers are the perfect plants to put a smile on your face. With golden petals, and stems that tower over most parts of your garden, these are such cheerful additions to your yard. Create a little sunshine and happiness in the world - and your garden - and sow some sunny Spring sunflowers for a pop of colour.
Let’s start sowing some sunflowers!
What you will need:
- 1 x weather-treated photo frame
- 2 x hooks
- Sunflower seeds
- Bonemeal/Superphosphate (do not use bonemeal if you have dogs)
- Wooden planter box (optional)
- Weed barrier cloth (if using a planter box)
- Glue (optional)
- Mini chalkboard
- Some chalk
- A tree with a nice straight branch
How to sow sunflowers
1. Firstly, you need to decide whether or not you will be making a wooden box to sow your sunflowers in. If making up the wooden box from scratch, cut plastic sheeting or weed barrier cloth to fit snugly inside the box (parents, please do any and all cutting, hammering etc)
2. You are going to need good drainage for your sunflowers to grow tall! Cut holes in the bottom of this box (parents, you may want to jump in here too) and layer drainage stones to assist with drainage. Top the stones with a mixture of potting mix and bonemeal.
3. Get your kiddies to poke holes in the soil for your sunflower seeds, showing them to space the seeds around 15cm apart. No matter where you sow your seeds, ensure that you use some bonemeal, compost and/or potting mix so that your plants grow strong and glow with colour.
4. Once your kids have sown the sunflower seeds in the soil, cover them up with soil. Remember to give them a good watering.
5. Your sunflowers will start to grow! Now, it’s time to move your planter box on top of a wooden table, with the frame attached to the branch using the hooks.
6. Get your little ones to write their names on the chalkboard and ask them to hold the chalkboard behind the frame, next to the sunflowers. Glue the chalkboard to the frame if you prefer. Then, have some fun, getting your kids to pose behind the frame for some nice pictures.
* For more information on bringing Life to your Garden, visit our website www.lifeisagarden.co.za or join the conversation on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/lifeisagardensa.