Plan to develop a growing area so that the children can grow annual flowers and vegetables each year in a garden that is fresh and interactive. Annual flowers such as nasturtiums and sunflowers can create living decorative screens along the boundaries of the garden. Climbing beans, peas, tomatoes and gourds can create edible fences. Raised beds or planters are advantageous in an early years setting – the plants are at a level that is easy for children to work with and out of the way of running traffic or ride-on traffic.

Fruit such as apples, raspberries and strawberries provide fresh produce for harvesting by the children and can also be planted to create edible hedges and screens to divide the garden space. Hanging baskets and planters are good for strawberries and tomatoes.

Sensory plants are simple plants that have particular features that heighten your senses; herbs that give off a smell when rubbed, soft hairy leaves of grasses or lambs' ears that tickle you when touched. Plant rough or smooth barked birch or cherry trees. Sensory plants can be simply a container full of herbs and grasses with interesting texture, movement, colour and scent. The planting scheme can be designed to encourage the children on a journey through the space.

Raised planters either side of seating allows for greater accessibility to explore sensory planting. Grasses offer movement and texture. Different surface materials can increase the sensory nature of the garden. Access to soil, sand, stones, pebbles, bark, pine cones and crunchy leaves all provide different sensations when touched and allow children to explore and play with natural materials.

An easy addition to any early years gardens comes in the form of log piles or pallets filled with different recycled materials. Remember that wildlife doesn’t like disturbance too often so allow time between visits for the wildlife to recover.

For sustainable gardening have a compost heap for all your fruit and vegetable snack waste and garden green waste. Children can observe the life that surrounds the compost and put the compost back into the garden. Make a perspex front to your compost bin so that children can see the mini-beasts at work. Collect leaves in a separate leaf mould bin. Children can use giant leaf hands to gather the autumn leaves. These will rot down slowly to make perfect soil improver.

If room allows a potting shed is a great resource for children to work in, for sowing seeds and potting up plants. It also acts as safe storage for tools. A water butt can be added to collect rainwater from the roof.