Eco garden

I'm going to be helping my son's school put together an eco garden and have a few ideas about things I could do but would welcome any new suggestions? Thanks, Chris

 

Pretty much yes, for example we're going to be putting a pond in and a device to catch the rain water.....Chris

 

See if you can make arrangements with the schools kitchen to have a compost scraps bin, that would aid the garden. You could go further by having a paper bin in every classroom...also to be composted.

Bird and Bug boxes..

Maybe it would be worthwhile contacting the local authority to see if they could organise a free delivery of recycled green waste to help give the start of the garden a boost or approach local businesses to see if they will donate materials to help get it started. For example..B&Q might donate some flagstones for paving..or some handtools, a local nursery might donate a fruit tree or two...maybe a few plants. After all, you'll be creating interest for the gardeners of tomorrow so its good business sense for these companies to invest in the future.

It all depends on how big a project is being made of this.

What are your ideas so far Chris?

Steve...

 

Thanks for the advice Steve......so far, I'm going to be making a bee hotel and putting a pond in. There are lots of great ideas here but I'm keen to get a few more ideas before making a final decision on the layout.

Thanks, Chris

 

If at all possible the kids need to be involved in deciding the layout.

You can give them guiders, like the reasons for choosing the place for the pond then get them to decide how best to use that info. You'll get so much more 'buy in' from them - now and into gardening in the future, if they are involved in the decision making.

 

As well as an out and out pond, a boggy area would also be good.

Buddleia for butterflies? An 'untouched portion where wildlife can be left to exist undisturbed?

Use only ethically sourced materials (carbon footprint and whatnot).

 

I have just dug out a magazine article I kept, citing the best wildflowers for wildlife:

• Dog rose
• English Ivy
• Field scabious (Knautia arvensis) - great for bees!
• Honeysuckle
• Marsh marigold
• Primrose
• Sea holly
• Teasel
• Wood anemone
• Yellow flag iris - marginal plant for ponds and bogs.

 

So much depends on the layout,size and composition of the site Chris.
Don't just go for compost bins, get a couple of worm bins up and working that way the compost will form faster and the children can learn about the importance of worms as recyclers. Get the children to add any uneaten fruit etc to the bins (as well as paper as has been suggested).
A stack of two or three tyres makes a good small raised bed and can be placed on a tarmac playground surface if needed. Bolt the tyres together through the sidewalls.
If you can do it yourself or get some help you can make mini greenhouses/cold frames out of plastic lemonade bottles the children have saved.
A rotting log pile is another thing to think about. It will attract mini-beasts which are great for the kids to study.
If space permits think about growing a willow den for the children to sit in from live woven willow.
Ponds unless very shallow have significant health and safety issues for schools as well as upkeep problems and a bog garden is a safer bet. With both of these you need to think about water supply.
The RHS had a very good four page list of 'Plants for bees' and I downloaded and printed it last year. I've just tried to find the link again but it looks like the RHS has removed that article however if you do a bit of Googling you'll find plenty of info on other sites.
As far as what to grow that the kids can eat you need to think along the lines of quick and easy and take the summer holiday period into account. Perennial herbs are good as they can be picked and used for classroom 'cookery' .

And just as a slightly off topic note though still related to school gardens. A former colleague of mine took over a former Junior Secondary school that had been converted to a Primary. There was a massive greenhouse in the grounds and Sandy (the head teacher) had the kids growing tomatoes and all sorts of veg in it and selling the produce in aid of school funds and was doing very well on the income. It took our local authority seven years to realise that the greenhouse was heated via a spur from the school's central heating system and cut off the heating and income!

 

Yes the recyly greenhouse out of bottles which we are doing at local community garden .

Go on freecycle for things you are looking for .

And of course you will need more help other than yourself.

Apply to BBCdig in fo ryour seeds for the school project.

 

This is a very good idea! http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/digin/

 

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First things first, read up and learn as much as you can about how to manage it as the easy bit is building it!

I live beside a local school who have for a number of years have got a wildlife garden.

They have all the correct items there, a pond, shrubs, long grass, piles of logs, hollow pipes, wood chippings, clay pots on their side etc, and every thing grows exceedinlgy well, from spring though to autumn!

The only problem is, every autumn the parents and teachers come with power strimmers, powered hedge trimmers, rakes and other tools.

They slash the long grass back to the ground and take it away in a trailer, shrubs cut back so all the berries go, this year they cleaned out the pond of all plants growing in it, all winter there has been only a hole with water in it, bare banks, no foilage.

I give off on here about the PC brigade, and teachers are top of the class for that, all brains and no sense!

Two autums ago, i was passing when they were butchering the plants, I stopped to speak to some off them, i asked if it was supposed to be a "wildlife garden" how and where was the wild life supposed to survive the winter.

One off them said, this is the way we are doing it, talk about talking to a brick wall.

I get lots of frogs and newts in my own garden, some of which I catch and put into their garden, this is to stop our resident hedgehog eating them all, but I think i am wasting my time, as I am not sure they would escape the tender mercies of the strimming crew!

If you look on Google earth, at GL2 4UF you can see the garden and pond beside the red car to give you some idea of it's size!

Cheers

 

I could take very great exception to that sweeping generalisation. But I suppose "all brains and no sense", is better than having no brains or sense :D
Your view on how schools and teachers in general manage wildlife gardens seems to be based on a single example in which management for wildlife is particularly poor and ill informed. There are scores of other schools that have created very successful and productive wildlfe habitats and where the children are developing great enthusiasm for and knowledge about natural history.

 

ok great thanks for the tips everyone! I feel armed and ready with my eco hat on!!

Chris

 

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You are easily annoyed, but don't worry i'll forgive you!

None of us are original thinkers, me i have learned a lot from other gardeners, if you don't listen you will never learn, that's what that lot, TEACHERS and PARENTS did not do!

Cheers!