By Dan Trudeau
Trees, bees and flowers of all shapes and sizes were among the most common requests that kids at the Queens Botanical Garden had for the new Children’s Garden, which will be completed in 2006 as part of QBG’s master plan to renovate and revitalize its grounds.
Last week, around kids from ages 5 to 14 participating in the HSBC Children’s Garden program at QBG toured the grounds and learned about all the different aspects that make a garden complete and appealing.
After talking with their teachers and considering the qualities they like best about gardens, the kids created their own designs, making models to show what they would like the Children’s Garden to look like when it’s finished.
“The kids have an enormous amount of creativity and it’s really fun to watch,” QBG Director of Planning Jennifer Ward Souder said. “They were very specific about what they wanted and what they needed. They spent a whole day learning about worms, so a lot of them want a place for worms.”
When asked about their designs and the aspects of those designs they found most appealing, the youthful garden planners presented bold and diverse ideas about the potential final product. Every decision, however, was made with careful consideration and an appropriate sense of gravity.
“There’s a pond: a big one. It looks like a jellybean. That’s why I like it,” said 5 year old Thomas as he explained the centerpiece of his design.
Anthony, also 5, took a slightly more functional approach, saying that he planned his garden with recreation in mind. When asked about his favorite part of his design, Anthony responded unequivocally.
“The swing,” he said. “Because you can swing on it.”
Planners and teachers at the children’s program said the kids seemed especially concerned that any garden must have an area for exercise and play and that their designs should be open and appealing to different kinds of wildlife. The Bee Garden and the Butterfly Garden were among the pre-existing spaces that the kids found most interesting.
Ward Souder said the kids’ ideas will definitely play a part in the decision-making process when the Botanical Garden overhauls it’s grounds. The process will begin this fall when the QBG closes the current Children’s Garden to make room for other changes on the ground.
That’s not to say that Queens youngsters will be out of luck, however, as planners intend to open an interim space for kids in the spring, as well as one for seniors, who will also see their designated garden space closed in the fall.
The final version of the Village Garden, which will include both the Children’s Garden and the Seniors’ Garden, will be among the last of the QBG’s overhauls to be completed in 2006.
Erin Moriarty, a Masters student in landscape architecture at Cornell University, has been hired as an intern by the Botanical Garden and has been responsible for planning the respective interim gardens.
Moriarty said that while some of the kids made models reflecting fantasized or slightly unrealistic designs, there were several interesting suggestions made that the experienced and educated planners themselves had not considered.
“One girl suggested having some secret garden space,” Moriarty said. “It’s something that didn’t come up with talking to staff, so that’s something the kids brought to the project.”
She added that such suggestions could be applied to the interim garden, but might also make it into the final plan as well.
The Children’s Garden program was launched in 1971 and helps kids learn about proper gardening techniques while giving them an opportunity to plant and cultivate their own workspace, all the while learning about nature and ecology.
HSBC Bank became the predominant sponsor last fall when they donated $50,000 to help the Children’s Garden continue to grow. The program teaches thousands of Queens kids over the course of a year, a QBG spokeswoman said. According to Eileen Hoey, a teacher with the Children’s Garden program, the presence of the children have a profoundly positive effect on the garden as a whole.
“It’s wonderful for everybody to see them here,” Hoey said. “It’s wonderful to see them work together.”
