Wild garden

What do we mean by a wild garden?

We think that school grounds shouldn’t be formal, they are a place to enjoy, to play in and to learn from. A wild garden is a space where nature can thrive, a bio-diverse area that you allow to grow wild and see what wildlife will visit.

Create wild spaces throughout your school grounds to encourage birds and pollinators to inhabit the area.

Set up bird and bat boxes and make bug hotels and hedgehog highways. When you encourage nature into the school grounds it becomes a very special place to be and helps the environment.

Nature conservation starts with education.

So get your binoculars, magnifying glasses and notebooks and quietly roam the school grounds and see what wonderful plants and animals you can discover.

Creating your wilderness

Giving learners the opportunity to create their own wild gardens should help promote feelings of nurture and responsibility for the environment.

Planting wildflower meadows using mixed seeds can be a great way to get children and young people involved. Get them to research what plants to introduce and why they might want particular species for their garden.

Make sure the garden maintenance staff know not to mow your wild spaces – let them know and the children can create signs to welcome the pollinators and tell everyone its a wild garden.