Tips for Starting and Sustaining a School Garden Project

Is your school ready to embark on a garden project? At Life Lab Science Program, we have worked with schools around the country who have made the school garden a key part of the school over many years. Generally, gardens that are successful involve the entire school community and begin with good planning. Here are some tips to keep your garden program thriving for the long haul. Remember that a garden can be as small as a cup of soil or as large as a playing field.

• Form a steering committee for the garden program. This committee will help make short and long-range plans for the garden, and ensure that it is properly funded, maintained and used by the school community. The steering committee should be made up of teachers, parents, administrators, students and staff. Getting the school custodian to join is a big plus. The steering committee should hold regular meetings throughout the year.
• Develop a vision for your school garden. What ultimately do you want it to be? What is its purpose? How will it connect to curriculum? How will it be used daily by students and staff? What will it look like in 3-5 years? How will you get there? Share this vision with the school community and begin to plan out the steps for achieving it.
• Select a site for the garden. It should be centrally located, visible and receive at least 6 hours of sun per day.
• Make a timeline for the garden's construction. Dream big, but start small! Grow the garden as you grow your program. Remember to celebrate accomplishments along the way.
• Encourage a team of parents to participate as volunteers. Recruit parents of younger children who will stay in the school for several years. Volunteers can help teachers gather materials for and teach garden lessons in small groups. They can also assist with general garden maintenance, fund-raising and ordering supplies.
• Inform the school community about the value of the garden. Hold celebrations, volunteer recognition parties and other events in the garden frequently. This gives the teachers a valuable opportunity to showcase student work inspired by the living laboratory of the school garden. Be sure to invite school board members and local politicians.

Life Lab Science Program is a non-profit organization with over twenty years of experience in developing cirricula and materials for school gardens. For more information, please visit our web site at www.lifelab.org.