A school garden can teach children many lessons in ecology, biodiversity, and conservation. With our new garden section, Garden as a Teaching Tool, we've developed a program that uses the garden as a place to explore sustainability education. In this section, our guidelines will help children understand the factors that make a garden sustainable, from water conservation and native plants to composting and the use of recycled materials. LEED accredited landscape architects from UBLA, a landscape architecture firm in Wenham, MA, have worked with GEF to create sustainable garden designs for three different budgets. The designs integrate features such as rain barrels and pollinator gardens.
Click on the menu on the right to access a set of guidelines for planning a sustainable garden at three different budget levels, as well as tutorials on how to construct wheelchair-accessible raised beds and bird-feeders. This could be your most sustainable summer yet! What factors make a garden sustainable?
- Recycled materials
- Welcoming to wildlife
- Water conservation
- Safe fertilizers/supplements
- Composting
- Pesticide free
- Native plants
- Enviro-friendly plant signs
