A Journey from Wilderness to Beauty

The garden itself was absolutely wild. Bushes and shrubs had overgrown greatly and, as these pictures show, the sheer amount of work needed to just turn the garden into something at all usable would be huge. The path was barely visible, nor was the surrounding metal fence. Among the overgrown bushes were bits of rubble and debris presumably from prior projects.  Although the group wanted to keep intact as much of the natural ecosystem present in the garden, it would have been impossible to transform it as envisioned without removing the vast majority of the overgrown bushes and plants. _________________________________________________________________________________ The process of removing the overgrown elements of the garden was long and arduous. In keeping with the group ethos of saving money where possible, all this was cleared using hand tools. As many of the weeds had been left to fester for sometime, it was imperative that their...

As it was Autumn we found that, after placing the membrane, the ground was littered with leaves. Although we could have simply placed the fresh soil on top of the leaves, research found that this could have an adverse effect on the pH level of the soil. As such, we had to remove all leaves before placing the new soil in. After finally removing all the excess greenery, we decided that in order to ensure the garden was suitable for the variety of plants we intended to grow in the garden, it was necessary to run a pH test on the soil. Unfortunately, this revealed that the soil was far too alkaline to ensure the plants would grow well. Because of this, it was necessary to remove eight inches of soil from each bed that would be used to grow flowers. This process again involved the filling and emptying of rubble bags, this time with the unusable soil. Due to its sheer weight, this process took some time. Our research indicated that it was a good idea to ...

 After several months of hard labour, the rewards have finally presented themselves with the finished product as shown here. After finally finishing the pond, classrooms and the garden area itself, the paths were jet washed using a donated pressure washer. This made a huge difference to the final product and it all came together. One issue that we could not overcome was the Play Bark repeatedly not being delivered. Although Mrs Bloy was more than happy with the progress we have made, this is an issue that we will continue to support the school with until it is resolved and the Play Bark is installed as planned. ________________________________________________________________

As you can see, the rooms had been left in an extreme state of disarray. The floors were covered with a vast amount of dirt and grime, most of which was hidden underneath various pieces of equipment, old wellington boots, waste bags and a variety of other items that had been left to fester for some time. ________________________________________________________________ After a deep clean, it was decided that one of the rooms would serve as an equipment shed that would be off limits to children due to the nature of the tools and other items found in there for the upkeep of the garden. ________________________________________________________________ After a similar deep clean in the remaining classroom, a selection of children were asked to draw various garden based designs. The children were then asked, after lots of deliberation to paint their designs.  Involving th...

The pond area was in great need of a clean and tidy. Bushes from the other side of the fence separating the pond from the rest of the garden had grown so much that the fence itself was barely visible. It was also felt that the pond, like much of the garden area had great potential that was currently being wasted. ________________________________________________________________ It was decided that, after a thorough clean of the pond and the area immediately around it, that a frog hotel would be installed provide a home for the wildlife we wish attract to the pond area. The frog hotel was constructed using ceramic pots (seen at the back of the pond to the right of this picture) and stones placed in a way to provide shelter whilst ensuring easy access to the pond itself. Various plants were bought to both oxygenate the pond and to improve its aesthetics.  Two observation trays were also restored and placed in the pond area to encourage ...

As mentioned previously, the group wanted to include members of the school staff and their pupils as much as possible. We invited the school council to discuss any ideas they had with us directly at the beginning of the project so we had an understanding of exactly what they, the users, would want from the garden area. Having built upon these ideas, we invited the council back with Mrs Bloy to show them the finished product and asked for some comments as shown here: ________________________________________________________________

Upon completion of the project, the group reflected on the ways in which we had transformed the garden area and the journey we took together over the last eight months. After our first visit to school, where we gained a deeper insight into the scope of the project, the group shared a great feeling of excitement and wanted to get to work transforming the garden area into an enriching learning environment. Although none of the group had any real experience in this field, the huge amount of time and effort that we would need to achieve this goal was never underestimated. To ensure our time was managed effectively, regular meetings were held to discuss our progress and the next steps we would need to take.  Communication between the members of the group was crucial throughout, especially during these meeting as it was ensured that all ideas and opinions were discussed fairly, thus encouraging a positive group dynamic. Without effective collaboration, the garden a...