Making A New School Garden!

[Wales123098]

Hey!

from the eco team at my high school of 1400students

we are a bunch of teenagers from Cardiff-Wales, U.K.

We have started clearing a way an old garden which is fallen into a mess shall we say

we want advice on what we can put in a small garden in an school, we want to get the green flag we are currently on the silver. We have a small budget but the school is hosting a non school uniform day to raise money. We also want to reduce litter.

Could you give us some ideas to say in assembly to reduce rubbish and what plants and items we can put in our eco garden. We want to attract alot of birds and butterflys as butterflys on the decline we want to bring them back to life at our school.

Thank you for your time giving us advice from

the Bishop of Llandaff eco team!

[jethro]

Hi there,

Please could you give a rough idea of the size of the plot, also do you want purely decorative plants which will attract wildlife or would you like some edible things too? Is the plot shaded or sunny? Flat or sloped? In the winter, does it become boggy?

[LadyPakal]

Buddleia bushes are loved by butterflies, also have a nettle patch as some caterpillars feed on them. Check out this site - a section on Foodplants & Gardening under the Forums menu: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/index.php

For birds - teasels, honeysuckle, sunflowers, fruiting bushes (like blackberries, wild roses, holly)

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/homesga...-for-birds.html

Add some feeding stations and get the kids involved keeping them suppied (old fruit from home, scraps etc).

General site that may help:

http://www.hedging.co.uk/acatalog/wildlife.html

Don't forget insects - make a logpile for hibernation of insects as they are extrmely important too. Maybe add some nest boxes for bumblebees too.

[Andy Bown]

Have you got a large enough area for a pond? It would encourage it's own small ecosystem to develop as well as the positive knock-on effects for all other flora/fauna you decide to include.