How To Plant A Garden In A Kids Swimming Pool

I'm sure most of you know how much fun it can be to garden with your kids. I remember my dad building each of us a raised planter where we could grow vegetables and flowers. Today, my kids and I went to the store to buy flowers for their new garden. You will NEVER guess what they are planting their flowers in…

Our first stop was our local nursery. Each was allowed to pick out two six-packs of flowers. The kids decided to each pick a different type of flower and then shared them. My youngest daughter, Gracie, selected geraniums and blue petunias.

Ruthie went the fragrant route and selected stock, (beautiful and fragrant despite its ordinary name) and white alyssum.

Dianthus and snapdragons were Kai's choice.

We finished making our selections and then got ready to go home and start planting. The only question the kids had was – where were they going to plant their flowers?

How about their old kiddie pool? You know – the ones that cost about $10 that your kids play in during the summer. However, once summer is over, most people either throw out their pool or store it somewhere out of the way.

Well, now you can use it as a planter for either flowers or shallow-rooted vegetables or herbs.

The process is easy, and your kids will have fun assisting you.

First, move the pool where you want the garden to be as it will be too heavy once you fill it with soil. Then make multiple holes on the bottom for drainage. Then fill with a mixture of potting mix. Sprinkle some slow-release fertilizer and now begin planting!

Gracie planted her first plant, a peach-colored geranium.

My teenage daughter, Rachele, was overseeing our progress while texting on her phone.

We finished! The kids are so excited to see their flowers grow. The garden will be a riot of different colors and has no sense of design, which is as it should be for a children's flower garden.

This will be our 'before' picture. We planted alyssum, dianthus, geraniums, petunias, snapdragons, and stock.

If you would like to try this at home and want the garden to become a more permanent part of the landscape, you can add a brick border or plant shrubs and perennials around the outside of the pool.

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a horticulturist, certified arborist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through herconsulting services, her online classDesert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club,Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."