From Grey to Green: How Does Your Garden Grow

There were other funding successes too in those early months. Coffee mornings, a Halloween disco and a bag pack at Sainsburys all helped to swell the coffers, thanks as ever to support from children, parents and school staff. There were other demands on our funds too, like a nursery Smartboard, sports equipment and school trips. But the playground was always our first priority and in March 2011 the first stage of the garden finally got underway.
Working with a unique environmental education organisation called Earth Calling we began the first phase of re-developing the top corner of the infant playground. The plan for this early work was to create a collection of raised beds filled with wildlife friendly and food producing native plants. Two of the beds would eventually be planted up with a living willow tunnel and one corner of the site would be home to a raised stage area for play and outdoor learning. As it was right beside the nursery garden which was filled with greenery and bursting with life and colour, this section of the playground seemed especially grey and featureless....but not for much longer.

The work took four days, cost just over £1,000 and resulted in four large raised beds planted up with fruit trees, herbs and flowering shrubs. In the willow beds children from P2 and P3 planted Clematis and Jasmine which would eventually climb through the willow and provide colour and scent throughout the year. The children also planted more than 100 Spring bulbs and a number of tiny saplings grown from seed by the infant gardening club. It was just a small beginning but mighty oaks come from tiny acorns. How apt.