Is there a place in your landscape for the kids? Your own, your grandkids or even an inquisitive little neighbor child. Do they have a place to play? Do they have a place to dig? Do they have a place to hide?

My gardening adventure started with my grandmother and formed many of my earliest memories. It was the large clump of giant rudbeckia near the wall on the lower side of the porch. With a paring knife, sneaked from the kitchen, I hacked a path, my hands, and a small place to hide.

It also was helping her pull weeds, divide plants, start slips and collect seeds. Her habit of constantly sending any of the above home with me fueled my first garden.

One of my fondest memories of my daughter is the constant parade of bouquets that were picked for her mother and her grandmother. If there wasn't enough in the garden for her bouquet, she could find contributions in most any open field. This year, as she nears an advanced degree in plant breeding, one of her plants is in several nationally distributed seed catalogs.

Whoa! My purpose is not to dwell on two inveterate plant lovers but to get you to think about kids and your landscape.

Of course all small kids and many larger ones like to dig and see things grow, especially if it is theirs. Is there a spot for their garden? Of course there needs to be some grass to let them run.

Add a playhouse if you wish. Scale it to their size. Add a sandbox or add some water. Have you ever seen a kid that wasn't able to fall into even the smallest puddle?

Finally give them some privacy. A number of years ago while touring gardens west of Lancaster, we found a little trail leading away from the main garden toward a clump of evergreens.

We followed it until we found three or four small children holed up away from the commotion of all the visitors. They were almost indignant that we had invaded their domain. I remember similar effort, besides the rudbeckia forests, as a child to hide.

If you are fortunate to have existing trees or shrubs to do the job, use them. If you don't, you could do the same thing with tall perennials, ornamental grasses or a trellis of vines. Remember, the kids may grow faster than some of your shrub or tree selections.

We hear complaints that the kids never go outside. That they stay holed up in their rooms with their TV's, computers or playstations. Maybe that is the only space that is really theirs. If that space existed in the garden they might go outside and discover the wonders of nature to boot.