The Garden Teepee

Posted by admin

I just wanted to share one of the terrific yard ideas I found this summer and did with my kids!

We wanted to make our yard a place where parents, kids and pets would be comfortable and enjoy ourselves. We built benches along two sides of the concrete patio, and put a fire pit in the middle for cold winter nights.

We ran a small fence with a gate along one end of the yard, and made it a sanctuary for the kids so they could play without our big dog knocking them down. We decided to plant a little garden in the middle, and so we started by letting the kids dig a hole.

After they wore themselves out, we tidied away the remnants of sod to make a perfect circle and dug the soil down about eight inches. We stuck long bendable metal rods in the ground around the outside of the circle and gathered them together at the tops to form a teepee.

We scattered handfuls of seeds around the base of each rod and wrapped chicken wire around the back and sides of the teepee and were done. It was the end of April, so I was constantly rushing about, kids were busy with end of the school year activities, and we didn’t really get back out into the children’s yard for almost a month (although I made it a point to water lightly once a day).

By the time school let out the end of May, plenty of sprouts were sticking up through the soil! The kids were amazed, and I gave them the chore of keeping the sod from growing back into the circle.

The teepee gradually was covered with vines, as squash, beans, mini melons and tomato plants wound their way up the chicken wire! We had planted a row of sunflowers behind the teepee for shade, and the squirrels were a sight as they bounced on the huge flower heads looking for seeds!

I am already making plans for our garden tepee next year - the kids are lobbying for each to have one of their own. I actually got them to eat some of the veggies that grew this year, and they had a great time hiding in their green shady wigwam!