Garden projects
Raised beds
This activity has detailed instructions for building a raised bed; the examples can be adapted for your preferred size, height, and shape.
Herb Spiral
Herb spirals offer a beautiful and practical way of growing herbs. The upward spiral lets you fit in more plants than a flatter space. The spiral also has areas of sun and free draining soil at the top, with damper, shadier areas lower down to suit herbs with different requirements.
Using wormeries
A wormery is a container where worms and micro-organisms create worm compost (vermicompost) and fertile liquid run-off. Worms mostly consume vegetable peelings, but also shredded paper and other soft waste.
Growing wild flowers
Wild flowers help create a healthy organic garden for growing food. They provide food and shelter for beneficial insects that eat pests and pollinate plants. Wild flowers are endlessly fascinating and easy to grow in the smallest or largest of spaces. This activity tells you how to get started and basic maintenance of your wild flowers.
Where to grow plants
This activity helps you review a shortlist of possible sites for a growing area.
Clearing weeds and grass
There are several methods of removing weeds and grass described below that can be adapted to your needs. Remember you dont necessarily have to clear the whole site immediately, but just the space you need for the first years growing.
When is a weed not a weed?
Weeds are fascinating plants. Some are attractive, help wildlife or are even edible! They can also smother and compete with other plants, reducing harvests and spreading pests. Learning about weeds helps you identify the main types and decide how to remove those weeds that cause more harm than good.
Installing a water butt
Water butts are simple and affordable containers that attach to a downpipe to collect rainwater. This becomes a convenient reservoir during dryer spells to water plants to keep them cropping well. It also saves money and the environmental impact of using mains water. Installing a water butt is simple on most sites.
Transplanting young plants
You should have vigorous young plants after thinning and potting on seedlings. Transplanting is the final step to enable plants to grow on to maturity. The aim is to give them enough space to produce a good crop.
Thinning seedlings
Having a few extra seedlings is a useful backup in case of losses, but plants become straggly and crops poor if plants are overcrowded. Thinning removes the weaker plants so seedlings can grow into strong individuals ready for potting on or transplanting.
Testing soil and improving fertility
This activity tells you how to start building soil fertility. It has several simple tests as the first step in understanding soil as a living mass of organisms and chemistry that provide plants with water, fertility and anchorage. From these results, continue to develop an improvement plan for your particular soil.
Storing produce
With a little luck and by following these simple techniques, youll be able to store several types of vegetables and fruit to eat out of season. The following has tips and techniques for choosing the right produce for successful storage.
Setting up a square-foot garden
Square-foot gardening grows a lot of crops in a small space, ideal for groups of pupils, especially those starting off as its a small, manageable space.
Sowing seed
Growing plants from seed is tremendously rewarding. The techniques are simple and quick, especially with practice and the confidence to experiment.
Saving seed crop by crop
Saving seeds is an exciting and money saving way to complete the growing season. It lets you preserve a favourite fruit or vegetable variety to grow again next year or swap with other schools or gardening groups.
Diagnosing plant problems
The correct identification of plant problems is essential. Without knowing whats wrong, you cant assess if treatment is needed and worth the effort or cost. Its also more likely to lead to treating the symptoms, not the underlying cause.
Potting on seedlings
Many seedlings benefit from an ‘inbetween’ stage where they are given more space to grow before being transplanted into their final location in the soil or large container.
Growing potatoes in containers
This is an easy and rewarding activity for all ages. Potatoes in containers will produce a convenient crop with only minimal care. There are a few things you’ll need, but getting started is easy.
Planting a tree
Planting a tree is such a pleasure. Knowing your tree will live for many years is very special, especially when planted by the school community for the enjoyment of everyone.
Planting in containers
Planting containers is a terrific activity that makes an immediate impact on the growing space. The simple process transplants young plants grown in small pots into larger containers. Many fruit, vegetables and herbs will do well in containers, so experiment to see what does best for you.
Making a paper pot
This is a great way to save money and recycle old newspapers. Instead of buying plastic pots or trays to sow your seeds into, follow the instructions below to make your own paper pots. Seedlings will grow strongly and be perfect for planting outdoors or into larger containers. The whole pot can be planted as it will decompose and the roots grow through.
Mulching plants
Mulching is spreading materials over the soil surface, such as compost. The benefits are readily seen, particularly during summer holidays when it conserves soil moisture and suppresses weeds.
Making leafmould
Leafmould is a lovely crumbly dark organic material used for improving soil structure and as an invaluable ingredient for potting mixes. The leaves fall every year from deciduous trees and are easy and quick to collect as a group. Making leafmould is more about patience than technique, so producing leafmould is easy.
Making potting mixes
Plants in pots and containers need special potting mixes to grow well. Soil on its own isn’t enough as the small volume available is unable to provide the benefits it does to outdoor plants, such as disease suppression, balanced nutrient levels, etc. A potting mix takes over these roles by blending different materials.
Pruning and training fruit
Pruning is an exciting job that varies with each fruit crop.
Making liquid feeds
Liquid feeds provide extra nutrients for plants in need, usually those growing in confined spaces or especially hungry.
Dividing plants
This simple technique is a valuable way of splitting up and rejuvenating established perennial plants into smaller pieces, each section becoming a new plant. It works for most plants that have a spreading rootball with plenty of shoots at soil level.
Digging
Digging is very satisfying. You simply work up and down your growing area, turning over the soil and adding organic matter as needed (eg compost).
