Schools and Children's Projects

I have recently completed this project with the children and its a shame it cant carry on! We planted root vegetables, leaf vegetables, flowers and brasicas to the phases of the moon. Its an ancient Egyptian technique dating back 4000 years but in the small but fully engaged school in Lincolnshire it worked and worked very well. The children had a great time learning the technique and they will carry it on and keep growing.

This is a great wildlife area not because of the size of the area but the fact that its a crested newt on the top of the concrete base of an old cricket net! This area was scrounged by the nursery from the adjacent school and the newt is for climbing on and learning about nature. Natural logs for seats and digging barrels are around the newt and at 8m long from nose to tip it really did capture the imagination of all who sat on it.

This is a fantastic project fro children that had inspiration poured into it. We sank Lego™ into the pathway so the children can build Lego™ towers from the pathway upwards. We sunk spanners, bamboo, glass beads, marbles and more to make the path more interesting. We placed rounded rocks in a sea of rubber chippings so the children can imagine they are on the lock-ness monster or a train or more. Monolith stones are on a bank of grass and chalk was provided for drawing on the stones and the natural blackboard.

On the opposite side of the garden a natural daisy hump of grass gives the children somewhere to sit and make daisy chains. Bear print stepping stones sweep around the grass hump are there is only one golden one so the children can search for the golden paw print. A muddy puddle made from concrete allows the children to splash in the mud! Lots of logs give the children natural seating and the pathway is made from rounds of different textures. Planting in every gap makes this garden very exciting and not just for children.

After giving broughton Junior school the 3 sisters American Indian growing system they emailed me at the end of the year to show me what they had achieved. Outstanding is one of the ways I could describe what they have done.

Action for children (formerly NCH kaleidoscope) was a project that i designed and built with a team of volunteers. Its a small sensory garden with Lavender, Rosemary, reflective disks and brightly painted fences. The last three pictures show the garden one year on from its concept and how its all grown together.

This was a lovely project because we built it in an unused area of the school garden. Originally landlocked with the only entrance being via the hall fire exit we changed fencing for gates and built a usable outside learning area. Benches in the shade, raised beds, a fruit orchard, nut orchard, African "Keyhole" gardens and a recycled greenhouse.

Luddington and Garthorpe is a very switched on rural school and was a pleasure to work with to make an African Keyhole garden. The top four pictures shows how to make a keyhole garden in four easy steps and the bottom four pictures shows the children planting the bed after raiding my seed boxes in my van. A Keyhole garden is how vegetables are grown in Africa, off the floor and with its own composting and watering system.

Barton Partners in Play is a summer holiday club that's run by volunteers in the summer holidays at Castledyke school in Barton upon Humber. Attending the club, we grow vegetables, plant fruit, make rockeries and have all sorts of fun outside the classroom. You can see by the pictures how much the children enjoy being at the club and gardening in all sorts of different areas.

Bowmandale School in Barton upon Humber wanted a quiet area, somewhere for the children to relax, read book and play board games. The school council wrote to me and asked for my help so the quite area was taken from an idea to construction. Designed as two snakes in the grass with tongues and long tails, it gave the children tow patio's, one in full sun and one in full shade. The quite area still stands today and is used just as much as it was when it was first built.

Through Inspiring communities Willows Primary School wanted a full blown working kitchen garden fore fruit and vegetables. So I designed a formal area with four corner beds, an African Keyhole garden in the centre and herb beds a=on either side. This gives the school large growing and learning areas. Trellis fences the project in but allows extra areas for growing raspberries and more.

Ulceby C E school asked me to design an outside classroom for them. They wanted something completely individual, bespoke and usable so I designed a massive willow classroom.