Maintaining the school garden is all about doing little jobs often! It’s not that hard if everyone pitches in.
THE WATERING TEAM
The Watering Team has to water vegetable gardens every day and the rest of the garden twice a week.
Just like us, plants need to drink! In summer, they need to drink more than they do in winter. If it rains, they might not need any more water given to them at all.
Before watering, the team should check to see if the garden actually needs it by poking their finger into the soil; if it feels cold and moist, it probably doesn’t need watering.
Shrubs, perennial flowers, fruit trees and Australian plants will only need to be watered twice a week but they will need a good soak so that the water goes all the way down to their roots.
If the school vegetable garden bed has sprinklers, these should be turned on first thing in the morning and only for long enough to fill a cup with 10mm of water.
If the garden is hand watered with a hose, the person watering should start at one end of the garden and work through to the other end and then they should do it all over again. This makes sure that everything gets the water that it needs.
Find out more about how to be waterwise in your school garden.
This is a very relaxing job to do on a sunny summer’s morning. Remember to wear a hat and sunscreen.
USEFUL CLASSROOM MATERIAL
Download these tags to use on the classroom garden roster.