Sustaining a School Garden

Presented by
Master Gardener Association
San Diego County
Sustaining a School Garden Topics

 Garden Improvements
 Identifying Pests
 Pest Management
 Summer Maintenance
 Using the Garden (Lessons)
 Garden
Improvements
 Improving on the basics
 Irrigation
Composting
Vermicomposting
Add a greenhouse
Critter control
Add mulch
Making the most of small spaces
 Add vertical elements to the garden
Small space garden
Add seating- provide places to sit
and enjoy the garden
Outdoor classrooms
Renew..Reuse..Recycle..
Potatoes in a trash can!
…and even the kitchen sink!
Art in the garden
Mosaic
Wall art
Paint the shed!
Garden signs
 Make a garden wish list..
 Coffee Cans
 Old Kitchen Faucet
 Outdoor Wicker Chairs
 Surf Board with no Fin
 Trellises
 Picket Fencing Pieces
 Cobblestones
 Pea Gravel
 Plastic Border Edging
 Flagstone 
 Extra Tile Pieces 
 Colored Marbles
 Old Birdhouses
 Planting Containers
 Watering Cans
Let us be grateful to people who make
us happy; they are the charming
gardeners who make our souls
blossom.
-Marcel Proust
Identifying Pests
Types of Pests

 Mollusks
 Arthropods
 Birds
 Mammals
Mollusks
 Spider Whiteflies
Mites

Magnified Mealybugs
Spider Mite
Aphids
 Cabbage Looper Corn Earworm on Tomato

Tomato Hornworm Corn Earworm on Corn

 Birds

California Scrub Jay

Pocket Gopher Mammals
Ground Squirrel

Rat
Rabbit
 Pest Management

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

 An integrated program that relies on alternate
techniques for pest control and prevention of
garden problems.

 IPM does not eliminate pests, instead it

endeavors to keep them under control and
reduce damage to a tolerable level.
 Overuse of Pesticides

 Many insects develop a resistance

 May destroy a beneficial organism that will
attack the pests
 Misuse of chemical products may cause
environmental harm
Encourage Beneficials
Ladybug

Lacewing

Ladybug larvae
Predator Insects
Assasin Bug

Assassin Bug

Parasitic Wasp
Robber Fly
Syrphid or Hover Fly
Tachinid Fly
Predator
Spiders

Crab Spider

Jumping Spider
Forceful Spray of Water
Exclusion
Tools to Manage Pests
Log on to
http://ipm.ucdavis.edu/

Click on Homes, gardens,

landscapes and turf
UC IPM Website

Click on plant group with pest

or pest damage to identify
UC IPM Website

Click on plant with pest or

pest damage to identify
UC IPM Website

Click on specific pest or

disease if you have some
ideas or scroll through to look
for a match.
 UC IPM Website

Look at text and/or photos to

match pest or damage
UC IPM Website

Once you identify the pest,

the website also has specific
solutions or information on
how to manage the pest.
The Organic Gardener’s Handbook
of Natural Insect and Disease
Control
By

Barbara Ellis and Fern Bradley

 Summer Maintenance
 Abandon garden in summer
 Volunteer parents and students
 Solarization
 Mulch

Volunteer Parents and Students
Solarization
Weed Control
Mulch
Local Compost Sources
Compost – Best Kind of Mulch
 Common Mulches
Excellent
 Compost

 Weed barrier
fabric

Good Fair
 Grass Clippings  Bark or Wood chips
 Hay or Straw
 Leaves

 Pine needles

 Coco bean hulls

Using the Garden
 Be Resourceful
Use lessons designed for gardens from:
 Master Gardeners
 California School Garden Network (www.csgn.org)
 Garden of Learning (curriculum sets)
(www.gardenoflearningk6.com)
 Junior Master Gardener (curriculum sets and books)
(www.jmgkids.us)
 TWIGS (15 garden and cooking lessons)
 Harvest of the Month (nutrition lessons with links to State
Standards (www.harvestofthemonth.com)
 AIMS activities
 Primarily Plants (Gr. K-3)

 The Budding Botanist (Gr. 3-6)

 Other Books
 Internet (Google, e.g. Lessons on plant germination)
Prepared Lessons
 Be Creative
Adapt your regular classroom lessons to be taught
in the garden. Go through your curriculum and
find where you might use the garden to:

 Add interest
 Make lesson more relevant
 Add enjoyment by being outside
 Provide hands-on learning experience
 Associate lesson with the garden for retention of new
concept
 Language Arts Lessons

Parts of Speech
Verbs: I like to ________in the garden.
Adjectives: the ____________cucumber
the ___________,________ tomato
Bonus Spelling Words, plant parts, vegetables, etc.
Reading in the Garden
Plays or Readers’ Theater
in the Garden
 Writing in the Garden
 Daily Journals
 Letters
 Poetry
 Five Senses
 Haikus
 Cinquains
 Instructions
 How to…
Five Senses Garden
 I see…
 I smell…
 I hear…
 I feel…
 I taste…

 I know…
 Math in the Garden
 Counting
 Measuring
 Calculating
 Perimeters and Areas
 Water
 Soil Amendments
 Plant Food
 A Square Foot Garden
 Problem Solving
 Fractions
 Percentage
 Economics
 Science
 Use of Scientific Method for Investigation and
Experimentation (I.and E.) standards, all grade levels
 Use as a class Science Fair Project
 Use as a lab for designing individual or group investigations (Our
Science Lab)
 Hands on experience for content instruction
 Life Sciences
 Earth Sciences
 Nutrition
 Environmental Education
Bean Germination Window
Science Laboratory
Social Studies, History, and
Geography
Other Uses of the Garden
 Cooperative Learning
 Among Classmates
 Rules for the garden
 Working together
 Sharing and caring for tools
 Within Grade Level
 Designating garden areas
for grade and class
 Grade level theme or
project
 School Wide Theme, Project, or Newsletter
 Community Project
 Farmers’ Market
 Donation of produce to charity
Character Education

 Appreciating Diversity
 Grow unusual
vegetables
 Ethnic foods
 Health and Nutrition
 Environmental
Education
Red Ribbon Garden
Behavior Management Reward
 Entire class reward
 Minutes in the garden
 Individual privileges
 Special hat, apron,
garden gloves, etc
 Gardener for the day
or week
Tutorial Site
 Cross-age tutoring
 Buddy Reading
 Learning English
 Small group with
volunteer or aide
Counseling in the Garden
Special Ed Classes