Restore: Habitat
School gardens function best through a partnership of teachers, students, parents, staff and community volunteers working together with clearly defined roles.
Options for School Habitats/Gardens
Carolina Fence Garden
Start a habitat /history garden at your school by placing the following state symbols around a split rail fence:
- State flower: yellow jessamine
- State bird (house): Carolina wren
- State rock: blue granite
- Native wildflowers to attract the state butterfly: Tiger Swallowtail
- State grass: Indian grass /sorghastrum nutans
- Plugs of Indian Grass planted from late September through early October should put on considerable growth for the coming year. The grass will form attractive flowers each year from late August through October. Indian Grass needs well-drained soil and at least
half days of full sun.
- Plugs of Indian Grass planted from late September through early October should put on considerable growth for the coming year. The grass will form attractive flowers each year from late August through October. Indian Grass needs well-drained soil and at least
half days of full sun.
Click here for more information on Carolina Fence Gardens
Schoolyard Habitat Garden
The Schoolyard Habitats® Program was formally created in 1995 by the National Wildlife Federation as an extension of the Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program to focus specifically on assisting schools, teachers, students and community members in the use of school grounds as learning sites for wildlife conservation and cross-curricular learning. Visit the South Carolina Wildlife Federation website to learn more.
Heirloom Garden
Study and plant old fashioned regional garden plants. These vegetables are bred for flavor, not for shipping. Advocates believe that preserving heirloom plants protects bio-diversity which is needed in the fight against poverty, to achieve food security and protect the environment.
To order a catalog of heirloom seeds, visit www.rareseeds.com or www.underwoodgardens.com
Native Plant Garden
Organic Garden
Any type of garden where no chemicals are used.
Rain Garden
American schools are catching on to rain gardens – landscaped areas planted with native vegetation to soak up rain water, mainly from the school roof. The rain garden fills with a few inches of water after a storm and the water slowly filters into the ground rather than running off to a storm drain. Compared to a conventional lawn, a rain garden allows about 30% more water to soak into the ground.
Gardening Resources
- America the Beautiful Free Seeds: offers grants of free seeds for community planting projects.
- Organic strawberry plants: Cottle Strawberry Nursery offers tips, plugs, bare-root plants all certified organic. Varieties available include Chandler, Camarosa, Sweet Charlie. Contact Ron Cottle, 910-267-4531.
- Magic School Bus Goes to Seed from Scholastic
- Name That Plant: information about native and naturalized plants of the Carolinas and Georgia
- “Greening School Grounds” from Green Teacher.com
- Youth Garden Grants from the National Gardening Association and Home Depot Garden Club
- Healthy Sprouts Awards from the National Gardening Association
- Hooked on Hydroponics Awards from the National Gardening Association
- Preferred Plant List
For The South Carolina Upstate Region prepared by the Appalachian Council of Governments.
- Prohibited Plant List For The South Carolina Upstate Region prepared by the Appalachian Council of Governments.
- Enature.com has a Native Plant List by zip code. Your e-mail address is required.
- School Gardens by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with other agencies.
- School Gardens from the CalRecycle’s Office of Education and the Environment in collaboration with the California Environmental Protection Agency
- Gardens for Learning, a book from the California School Garden Network
