Posted by Janet Harriett on Mar.09, 2010

ⓒ iStockPhoto - TriggerPhoto

A sunflower room provides a living outdoor playroom for kids in the summer which can be expanded and moved each summer. Plant the sunflower room as soon as the danger of frost has passed in your area (consult your local cooperative extension for safe planting dates) and the kids can enjoy their own private outdoor enclave all summer. As a bonus, the best variety of sunflowers to use for a sunflower room, Mammoth Russian, also produce some of the most delicious sunflower seeds for snacking.

You can plant a sunflower room straight in the lawn without suffocating the grass or using weed killer. You can either carefully cut the grass around and between the sunflowers with a string trimmer or weedwhacker, or just let it grow longer for the summer on that patch. If you do decide to kill off the grass inside the sunflower room, we suggest distilled white vinegar, which kills the vegetation but is safe for use around children’s and pets’ play areas.

Planning A Sunflower Room

Sunflowers require full sun, so situate the sunflower room in an area that receives sun for a minimum of 6 hours a day. Eight or more hours is better. Any sunny spot on the south or west of the house will do. Make sure it’s a spot in the yard where you don’t mind having long grass or a potential bare spot from foot traffic. If the kids wear the grass down, you can reseed the patch in fall or spring.

To lay out the sunflower room, mark off a circle 4-5 feet in diameter using a rope or garden hose to lay out the location of the room’s “walls.” Stick stakes - bamboo or recycled tree or shrub trimmings work equally well - at regular intervals around the perimeter of the circle, about a foot apart, making sure to leave a doorway. The stakes serve double duty, marking the plants so you don’t accidentally mow them while they’re small, and supporting the plants as they grow. A 4-foot diameter circle will need about 12 sunflowers spaced at 1-foot intervals to complete the circle. In this stage of the project, you can sneak in a little math or geometry lesson for kids who are ready for that.

Planting the Sunflower Room

Sunflowers grow fairly quickly and can be direct-sown as seeds or started indoors. The main benefit to starting sunflowers indoors is that you can keep the seeds away from birds and rodents, who tend to see un-germinated sunflower seeds as food. Starting the sunflowers indoors uses the same process as our windowsill herb garden.

If you’re planting seeds directly, simply poke a small hole, about one inch deep, in the soil, straight through the grass, and drop a seed in the hole. Pinch the divot closed. Since some seeds may fail to germinate, plant a cluster of 3 seeds an inch or two apart around each of the stakes. When the seeds have developed 2-3 sets of true leaves, thin the young plants to the strongest seedling at each position.

If you have started your sunflowers indoors, use a trowel to dig out a plug of sod approximately the size of the starter container, a couple of inches away from the stake. Remove the sunflower and soil ball from the starter container and drop the transplant into the hole. Fill in any gaps around the transplant with soil, and toss the bit of sod into the compost heap.

Caring for Your Sunflower Room

Whether you’re using seeds or transplants, water the newly-planted sunflower room well after planting. Once the plants are established, the regular watering of the grass should give the sunflowers all the water they need. If you don’t regularly irrigate your lawn, water the sunflowers supplementally so they get at least an inch of water a week total, between rainfall and irrigation.

As the sunflowers grow taller, they often need supported. Tie the stems of the sunflowers to the stakes every 8-10 inches, making sure to tie the twine loosely so you don’t constrict the plant. Remember, you’re just trying to keep the stem from falling over, not trying to take it hostage or keep it from moving around at all.

One note of caution: bees are attracted to sunflowers in bloom, and sunflowers do put out pollen. If your child is sensitive to bee venom or seasonal allergies, you may want to pass on this project.

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Posted under GDM Kids, Tweens, Teens, Home Environment, Organic Garden.