The Gardener badge is part of the “It's Your Planet - Love It!” badge set introduced in 2011.
This badge obviously works better if started in the early Spring, although some could be done in the Fall with planting bulbs (tulips, daffodils, crocuses, etc.).
When a Girl Scout Junior has earned this badge, she will know how to help plants and flowers grow.
Step 1: Visit a garden[]
The best way to get inspired about gardening is to explore and enjoy a well-cared-for garden. Take a tour of one of the gardens below to start learning about how gardens are planted, how to take care of them, and the right way to pick flowers when they’ve blossomed.
CHOICES – DO ONE:
- Visit an outdoor garden. Check out a garden at a neighbor’s house, in a public space in your community, or at a farm. Take photos or make sketches or drawings of your favorite plants in case you decide to grow them yourself. Ask how they grow!
OR
- Visit an indoor garden. See what it takes to grow plants inside a greenhouse or hothouse. These can usually be found at a botanical garden or nursery. Ask why gardeners keep the temperature set differently in different areas.
OR
- Visit a landscaped garden. Find a landscaped garden with pruned shrubs and lines of plants and other flowers. Many cities and large houses have specially landscaped gardens.
FOR MORE FUN: A shrub cut into a shape is called topiary. If you created topiary, what would it be? Share your ideas with friends.
If you enjoy seeing a few snails around your garden and admire the silver track they leave at night, then, you must expect to have a leaf or two taken. That is only fair.
-Girl Scout Handbook,1940
During World Wars I and II, Victory Gardens were planted throughout the United States and Europe to help with food shortages. Gardeners grew vegetables, fruit, and herbs everywhere from backyards to apartment building rooftops. In New York City, parks along the river became gardens, as did part of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 20 million victory gardens were planted. In 1943, Girl Scouts sponsored about 15,000 of them! Our sisters created and tended gardens at home, at the homes of friends and neighbors, in public parks, and on hospital grounds. In addition, thousands of older Girl Scouts worked as Farm Aides, gathering eggs, feeding and watering animals, preserving food, and picking crops.
BE A GARDEN MATH WHIZ! Gardens are full of flowers – and math, too! Did you think of these bits of garden math?
- Seed packets have directions that tell you how deep and how far apart to plant the seeds. You’ll use math to figure out how many seeds can fit in your garden. Plant under the full sun 1/4in. into soil. Scatter so plants aren’t right on top of each other. Different plants grow to different heights. Read the seed packages for instructions.
- When you buy a bag of tomatoes or a dozen roses at the store, you often pay more than you would have if you bought the seeds or plants and grew them yourself. You might save your family some money with your garden – can you figure out how much?
- Many people think a flower bed looks best with short flowers in front and tall ones in back. Seed packets and flower tags will tell you how tall they’ll become and how soon they’ll bloom, but you’ll get to do the math!
Step 2: Explore garden design[]
The first gardens on record were planted in Persia 4,000 years ago. Humans have long known that well-designed gardens can have magical effects – they can make people feel cheerful, thoughtful, or inspired. What kind do you want?
CHOICES – DO ONE:
- Plan your dream garden. Cut out pictures of flowers, trees, and other plants from magazines. Then, arrange a garden plan that appeals to you. Use the photos to experiment with various layouts. What kinds of colors, patterns, and shapes are your favorites?
OR
- Look into surprising gardens. Gather information about three surprising gardens – try to find out who designed them and how they did it. What about rooftop gardens, English landscape gardens, palace gardens, midnight gardens, or gardens meant to attract certain insects or animal? Then, imagine a special garden of your own. Share your idea in a sketch.
OR
- Make a mini Zen garden.Z en gardens are from Japan, and use rocks, gravel, and other structures to represent natural things like ocean waves or swaying trees. Zen gardeners rake gravel in certain patterns to make people feel at peace. Find ideas in photos of Zen gardens, then, make your own. (With an adult’s help find easy instructions online.)
Step 3: Learn how to choose garden plants[]
Before you begin planting a garden, you have to learn how plants grow. For help, visit an arboretum (a place where professionals show off their plants and gardens), a local nursery, or ask a gardening expert. In each choice, ask your helper how much water and sunlight a plant will need to stay healthy.
CHOICES – DO ONE:
- Find six plants that will grow in your hardiness zone. Learn in which plant zone you live and which plants like your local climate and type of soil.
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- Find six plants that grow in different ways. A gardener can begin to grow a plant from a seed, a bulb, or from roots. Find two plants you could grow from seeds, two from bulbs, and two from roots that are likely to do well in your garden.
OR
- Find six seasonal plants. Some plants only grow during certain seasons. Find three plants that would do well during the time of year you’d like to grow your garden. Ask whether your plants are “annuals,” which only grow one season and then die, or “perennials,” which come back every year.
Step 4: Experiment with seeds[]
If you can, do this step where you’ll plant your garden in step 5. It should be a place where the plants can get plenty of sunlight and not too many people will bother them. Using an empty egg carton and 12 seeds from a plant you like, experiment with what works best when growing plants in your space.
CHOICES – DO ONE:
- Experiment with soil. In two sections of the carton, add two tablespoons of soil. In the next two sections, add only one. Add one seed to each section. Cover the seeds with some of the soil and add a little water every day.
OR
- Experiment with water. Add two tablespoons of potting soil and as seed to each of four sections. Water two sections every day and water the two other sections every three days.
OR
- Experiment with sunlight. Add two tablespoons of potting soil and a seed to each of four sections. Cover two sections with paper cups. Add the same amount of water every day to all four sections.
More to EXPLORE: Try all three! Use the full egg carton to do all three experiments. Someday you may need a science experiment for school and this would be a great start.
Seed Questions - Keep track of the answers so you can use what you learn when you grow your own garden in the next step.
- How long does it take for the first leaves to poke through the dirt?
- Does each section look the same?
- Which plants did the best? How much water and sun is just right?
Window Gardening - There are plenty of plants you can grow from inside your home! All plants like light, so they can grow nicely on a windowsill. Some plants need lots of light, and some don’t need very much at all. Find out which direction your window faces before you choose your plants. North-facing windows usually don’t receive a lot of light. Ferns and ivy grow well with little light. If your window faces the south, a sun-loving plant like a geranium will thrive. East-and west-facing windows both needs plants that like indirect sunlight. Talk to an expert about choosing the best options for your windows. Feel like a challenge? Move your plant to an outdoor windows box!
Step 5: Grow your own garden[]
Create your own garden with the six plants you found in step 3, six from a nursery, or six from a friend or neighbor who really loves to garden. Follow the spacing and planting directions that come with them, and be sure to ask for help with planting and permission for your space.
CHOICES – DO ONE:
- Plant an outdoor garden. If you have access to a yard, perhaps there’s a plot you can use. Or, you might plant a garden in a small planter or an outdoor window box.
OR
- Plant an indoor garden. Houseplants can be part of beautiful indoor gardens. If you have access to a greenhouse or hothouse, you could grow your indoor garden there – or perhaps at a sunny spot inside your own home!
OR
- Help with planting at a community or school garden. Many schools and cities offer public gardening spaces. There might be a garden at your place of worship, your library, or in front of town hall. Perhaps one of these places could use your gardening help?
Add the badge to your Journey[]
When you do step 4, talk with a woman who works or volunteers at the garden you visit. Find out what she loves about her gardening role, and be sure to add her to your casting-call log.
- Helping out at a community or school garden
- Sharing my flowers and vegetables with a nursing home or food bank
- Creating a vegetable garden for my family