Growing & gardens articles

How to Start a School Garden: Your Complete Guide

Very through & useful article addressing benefits - where to start - goals - choosing your site - plans & designs - sample designs & materials needed - case studies. Earth Easy (US) (a business offering an informative guide).

Weeding, writing and arithmetic… why green fingers are good for our children

‘Schools should teach pupils gardening skills to instil a passion for the environment in future generations, says horticultural chief.’ The Guardian, 21 July 2019.

Gardening Is Good For The Soul

Says Danny Clarke, the green-fingered black gardener TV star. Voice Online, 12 May 2019.

How a school garden has transformed the way we teach

‘From finding fresh ways to engage children in maths to improving behaviour, we’ve put a garden at the heart of learning … Four years on, gardening has become a central part of the curriculum’ says headteacher. The Guardian, 29 September 2017.

Allotment Gardening for Children in Schools

Why support allotment gardening - benefits to physical and mental health and nature connection - top tips. From Hand Made Places (this is an informative & useful article from a business).

Working on an allotment is GOOD for your health…and this is why…

‘In a study published in the Journal Of Public Health the authors say: “We found that fewer than 30 minutes of allotment gardening produces a measurable and beneficial health effect.” ‘ Gardening is good for patience, perspective, physical and mental health. Express, 2 November 2015.

Should gardening be available on the NHS?

‘A British doctor and a leading Swedish scientist have made the case for gardening and horticulture to be available on the NHS, during the third annual Royal Horticultural Society John MacLeod Lecture.’ RHS Science blog, 21 November 2014.

Top Ten Reasons to have an Outdoor Classroom in Every Schoolyard

Green Schoolyard Network (US), 25 September 2011

Developmentally Appropriate Gardening for Young Children

‘… programs base their activities on sound principles of child development & learning. These principles are based on years of extensive research with young children and are used by professionals in the field of early education.’ Article looks at principles and goals of this approach. Vicki Stoecklin on White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, c late 1990s.