What: School gardens provide incredible opportunities to improve student behavior and academic performance; instill an appreciation for nature and the environment that lasts a lifetime; improve knowledge of nutrition, food systems and healthy eating in children; and much more. School gardens take dedication, time and planning to get started but once they are built, they last a long time and provide endless opportunities for student learning. The process of designing and building a garden can be a learning opportunity in and of itself. There are countless resources available in communities and online to support school gardens. Below is just a sampling of some of the free resources available online that can be utilized in any part of the school garden process including: planning, building, maintaining, growing, harvesting, indoor classroom learning experiences, nutrition education, cooking, and much more.
How: Schools are in many different places in the process of building, maintaining and utilizing school gardens. Wherever in the process though, there are opportunities for engaging students in learning. Some key resources include Cornell Cooperative Extension Garden Based Learning and kidsgarden.org. Please see below for resources, guides, tips and lesson plans for all aspects of school gardening.
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Bfuilding/Planning Construction |
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Planning/Planting/Maintaining |
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Teaching in the Garden/About the Garden (in the classroom) |
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Long-Term Maintenance |
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Container Gardening |
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| Garden Grants |
When: Gardening can happen all year. The fall is a time for harvesting, maintenance, and winter preparation. Winter is a time for planning, fundraising, ordering and mapping out the spring garden plan. The spring is a time for preparing the garden, planting and maintaining. The summer is a time for continuous harvest and maintenance, which can be a task for the school community. In the midst of the nuts and bolts of gardening, gardens provide year-long opportunities to observe plants through the seasons; adaptations of plants and animals; nutrition lessons; nature observation; writing inspiration; cooking, and much more.
Who: A school can form a garden committee of interested teachers, parents and community members to be in charge of the garden or the garden can be organized and maintained by a particular class/grade or combination of folks. Sometimes a certain grade’s science curriculum lends itself particularly well to gardening and that grade can take the lead. In some schools, teachers have designed case study/project- based-learning units that focus on starting/designing a school garden and/or improving an existing school garden. Certain classes take on the planting and maintenance of a certain part or plot in the garden.
There are many ways that a school community can utilize a school garden. Most important though is communication and keeping everyone who is utilizing the garden in the loop. Developing online communication pathways, Google Doc maintenance schedules, planning, planting and sign-up documents as well as developing a summer maintenance plan are essential to the sustainability of a school garden.
Materials: Site with sunlight on school property, soil, fencing, materials to build raised beds, garden tools, shed, water source, seeds, signs, containers for storage, watering, and container gardening; compost or organic fertilizer, etc. Materials will depend on what stage a school garden is in and what needs to be done to build/improve/maintain the garden. If there is no space for a garden, container gardening in the classroom or in a side yard is a great option.
Why: Gardens are a natural and easy place to engage students in outdoor learning. There are endless opportunities for nature observation, direct contact with plants, animals and soil, nutrition education, environmental awareness and more. Once a garden is constructed, it provides an ever changing (with the seasons) and evolving (over years) outdoor classroom.
Consider: Are there community partners (Ex: Cornell Cooperative Extension, Garden Clubs, university students) that could be utilized to help create, build or maintain a school garden? Consider writing a grant to get funding to support the construction or improvement of a school garden.
Barriers addressed: Sufficient and Appropriate Spaces; Usefulness of nearby nature