Rock on Gardening DIY

The sun’s out – let’s decorate the yard! This outdoor paint project will add a homely touch to your rock garden and bring out the child-friendliness of your space. Edge your beds in bright works of art, add some critters to the fairy garden, or make some sweet signs for your veggies with this painting pebbles DIY from Life is a Garden.  

What you need:

• A variety of different sized, lighter shaded pebbles
• Weather-resistant paints and brushes
• Super glue and googly eyes (optional)
• Seasonal veggie and herb seedling trays and
• A bag of compost/potting soil from your GCA Garden Centre

Painting ideas and inspiration

– Ladybugs and bees (2 colour designs for smaller kids):

For these critters, the trick lies in the bright contrast of your paint and sufficient drying time between layers (to not mix colours).

• To create a ladybug pebble, simply paint two red wings on either side of the stone, leaving a margin in between. Then, paint the rest of the stone black and add smaller black dots to the wings.
• For a bee design, paint yellow and black stripes across the stone – voila.

Try this: Using superglue, sick googly eyes onto your pebble critters for extra character!

– Rock frogs and rainbows (noughts and crosses game for bigger kids):

For this game, you’ll need to draw the traditional game grid somewhere. Try painting a stepping slab, wood block, or use chalk to draw the lines.

• Paint 4 of your stones in a nice bright green. Add black lines to define the frog’s features and friendly face.
• Paint 4 more pebbles in a rainbow design (remember to let the layers dry) and enjoy playing the game on the prepared noughts and crosses grid.

Try this: With all the colourful spring flowers in bloom, make it even brighter by edging your beds with a row of rainbow-painted pebbles.

– Sweet seedling patch (for kids of all ages)

Prepare your beds or containers with the compost/potting soil and transplant your new arrivals as per the planting instructions on the seedling tray label.

• Paint the names of your edibles on the pebbles. You could use one larger stone or multiple smaller pebbles with only a letter on each.
• Try painting a background colour first and then the names for an extra vibrant touch.

Try this: You could also arrange your pebbles to resemble your favourite garden helper, such as a butterfly. Once you have arranged the stones in a butterfly shape (with nice big wings) you can then paint them accordingly and add in details. To make your design permanent or to use them as steppingstones, prepare the space with cement and then set your pebbles to shape and paint once the cement has dried.

Getting the kids back outdoors and excited for family time in the garden is easily achieved when there’s paint and tasty plants involved. Enjoy some quality time with the kids and let your own inner child come and play.

Source: Life is a Garden