Symposium digs into children’s garden trend
Children’s gardens are a big trend, the American Horticultural Society posited in 1993.
That seems to remain true, as the group, in partnership with Clemson Cooperative Extension, Heathwood Hall, and Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, prepares to host its 24th annual National Children & Youth Garden Symposium beginning Wednesday at the Columbia Marriott, 1200 Hampton St.
Children’s gardens are “landscapes designed specifically for children and the way they play, explore, and interact,” the symposium website says, and they “offer the free exploration of the natural world that no longer occurs in today’s era of TVs, video games and concern over safety.”
Sessions range from case studies of specific school gardens to family gardens, and from soil science to garden games. One session focuses on writing effective grants, and another outlines growing seasonal salad gardens with children – complete with a salad necklace.
Two excursions are included in the registration fee. The first, 2:15-8:15 p.m. Thursday, is to Heathwood Hall, where participants will tour the fifth-graders’ themed gardens throughout the campus, have dinner, and see Kaiulani Lee perform her play “A Sense of Wonder,” which is based on the life of conservationist and “Silent Spring” author Rachel Carson, whose work led to the nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides. The second excursion, 2-6 p.m. Friday, is to Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, where participants will take a self-guided tour.
On-site registration for the whole symposium is $355 for AHS members, $400 for nonmembers and $335 for students. (Helpful hint: Since a one-year membership is $35, it’s cheaper to join at ahs.org than to pay the nonmembers rate.) One-day registration is $160.
Pre-symposium tours, happening Wednesday, are $50 for the morning tour of Columbia school gardens or $75 for the full-day trip to the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden in Bishopville and Moore Farms Botanical Garden in Lake City. The post-symposium excursion to Clemson Sandhill Research and Education Center and Carolina Children’s Garden and Lake House reception is $75.
Find information on the symposium at ahs.org/gardening-programs/youth-gardening/ncygs.
Rebekah Lewis Hall, rhall@thestate.com