Encouraging the next generation of gardeners
It’s almost back to school time. At Amberol we believe that it is important to inspire and educate the next generation in the joy of growing flowers, fruit and vegetables.
We work with schools, nurseries, colleges and universities across the UK to help them improve their grounds through the use of floral displays and edible plants in self-watering containers, as well as collecting their rubbish in litter bins and creating quiet areas with plastic seating and benches.
The National Curriculum highlights the importance of plants and living things and suggests giving children plenty of opportunity to grow, observe and measure a range of plants. There are few things more exciting for a young child than growing their own plants, whilst watching them grow from a seed, seedling or bulb is the best way to learn about how to cultivate, nurture and care for them.
At Key Stage One, much emphasis is placed on first hand observation and practical experience. Where possible, staff should aim to make use of school grounds, especially if they are fortunate enough to have grassed areas, trees, shrubs and flower beds on site. Local parks, common ground and town squares can also be good places to visit so that students have the opportunity to observe real plants in a range of conditions and habitats.
Many schools, particularly if they have space restrictions, use containers to both enhance their grounds and to enable their pupils to grow a variety of plants in differing and controlled conditions. Using self-watering containers reduces maintenance demands on ground staff whilst providing optimal growing conditions for classroom projects. They also provide useful comparisons to plan fair tests and control variables at key stage two.
As we work with so many schools, we decided draw on 40 years of horticultural experience and offer some lesson ideas of own. We will be publishing a selection of these activities on our blog in the coming months. Please feel free to use and adapt as you wish.
Happy planting!
