4-H Gardening Project
Grow flowers and other plants both indoors and outdoors. Design and grow a healthy landscape of lawn, shrubs and trees.
What you'll learn
Learn about the life cycle of plants, starting plants from seed, soil, watering, fertilization, propagation and flowering. You could make a terrarium, dish garden, hanging basket and or grow plants in pots.
What you'll do
- Identify different types of gardens
- Grow and maintain a garden
- Plant seeds
- Understand soil and other planting media
- Learn pest management techniques
- Examine parts of a plant and what they do
- Learn to identify and use common garden tools
Levels of learning
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- National 4-H indoor gardening activity books (for sale)
- National 4-H lawn and landscape activity books (for sale)
- Horticulture Hot Sheet from Iowa 4-H (free download)
Fairs & exhibits
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Indoor gardening
- Exhibit vegetables, herbs or flowers at the county or state fair
- Make a poster about parts of a plant
- Build a compost bin or rain barrel
- Prepare an exhibit on how to use fresh herbs in cooking
- Make planters for accessible gardening
- Create your own garden calendar
- Conduct a taste comparison of different varieties
Flower gardening
- Grow a dish garden, hanging basket or terrarium
- Grow plants from seed. Record the process of planting, transplanting and first blooms in still photos, video or journal
- Make a display or report about diseases, insects, fertilizing, or other factors that can impact a plant's health and growth
- Make a poster explaining the parts of a plant and what they do
- Create a notebook of common plants for a butterfly garden
- Design a flower garden for your home
- Make planters for accessible gardening. Show photos or a video of what you made
Lawn & landscape design
- Design a community landscape plan. Report on the process you took, who you worked with and how it turned out
- Make a homeowner's landscape plan. Explain the choices you have made
- Make a diagram of your plantings. Explain why you arranged the plants in the way you did
- Do the landscaping for a nature trail
- Plant and grown a lawn from scratch
- Start a lawn care business and report on what you did
- Plan and build a playground
What a judge is looking for (evaluation sheets)
Future study and careers
You could study horticulture or plant science at the University of Minnesota.
Groundskeepers maintain landscapes throughout the year, working outdoors. Landscape architects design the grounds of large houses and public buildings. Florists use artistic skills and plant knowledge to create displays. Horticulturalists understand the science of how things grow. Soil scientists study soil.
Reviewed in 2018
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