When UC Master Gardeners first envisioned a demonstration garden at McKinley and Winery avenues in Fresno more than 30 years ago, an area was set aside for Fresno County children to play and learn about growing plants.
Today, when families and school groups walk into the area enclosed by a Chinese fringe flower hedge, they find an array of beautiful garden sights and educational displays, plus a 9-foot-tall dinosaur topiary affectionately dubbed Herbie. Herbie’s size and smile spark children’s natural curiosity about the beasts that roamed the earth millions of years ago.
Next to Herbie, kids can tell time using a human sun clock. Facing north, they stand on a colorful concrete slab labeled with the current month and raise their arms to a point. Their shadow falls on the numbered steppingstone that represents the time of day. It really works.
In the same area, children love to hide inside a teepee fashioned by the intertwining tendrils of a snail vine, a plant that Thomas Jefferson once called “the most beautiful bean in the world.” A hopscotch made with painted steppingstones prompts kids and adults to hop across.
The tangram of gardening beds – dubbed Mr. McGregor’s garden after the beloved if grouchy gardener in Beatrix Potter’s children’s book Peter Rabbit – introduces young visitors to growing food. In the storybook, Mr. McGregor is in a continuous battle with the mischievous Peter Rabbit, represented in the garden with his family as rabbit-shaped topiaries among the vegetables. Parts of the tangram feature perennial plants, including strawberries, herbs and flowers, while the other beds change with the seasons, giving children something new to experience each time they visit.
Children can run through a mini maze and visit the compost information station on their way to the east side of the garden for more discovery and enchantment.
A large Palo Verde tree shades the east side with a vibrant yellow canopy of blossoms each spring. In the summer, the tree provides much-needed shade for a picnic table. A new interactive soil display will soon be placed near the picnic table, which will allow children to see and feel the difference between types of soil found in the valley, including hardpan, fast-draining sand and rich garden soil.
Also in this area, a slatted potting shed features a variety of plants intermingled with artwork and cute garden figurines. A covered patio invites visitors to sit awhile and relax while children are charmed by the adjacent fairy garden, complete with a selection of diminutive living plants, a mini cave, small cottages and many tiny fairies.
The Children’s Garden – at 1750 N. Winery Ave., Fresno – is open to the public from 9 to 11 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Admission is free.
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Written by UC Master Gardener Jeannette Warnert