Schoolyard Habitat: Introduction; Waddell School. Manchester CT USA

Next year, 2007-2008, we will be looking to review the habitat's goals in light of patterns of use and practical considerations.

In our attempt to control weeds in the past with mulch we have killed off many of our plants! Bark infections on shrubs and simple suffocation of herbaceous specimens due to the mulch creeping (or being applied) too closely.

This index will allow you to explore any facet of our garden that takes your interest.
Everything from learning basic botany to how to plan a garden or seeing how kids use it.

Guides and information

Pages that explore the history of
the study and use of plants

Earliest student use
of the
Schoolyard Habitat

One fall students, parents and school staff all pitched in to tidy up.

We still don't know who planted the Indian corn in the garden! It was so nice that next year we will have to plant a bigger patch!!


Guides and information actual planting list for the garden; photos of the plantings for identification use; tons of background info Print-outable maps of the garden to help you find and study the plants. While the shrubs and trees are still where they are marked, don't be shocked to find many plants gone or reseeded far from the original. Pages that explore the history of the study and use of plants ( Botany is the study of plants.) See what makes a bulb a bulb! Other pages cover why there are bulbs and how to care for them. Why and how plants have common and botanical names and a rough idea how people group things for study; a basic basic intro to taxonomy. Go here if you want to start your own herbarium! A page about herbaria, the collections of dried plants botanists use for study. Here is a gossipy story (that I find funny) about the Father of Botany, Carl Linnaeus, and his enemy!		Earliest student use of the Schoolyard Habitat first classes using the garden...the walls are just right as seats! (1998/99) Mulch-mania! The second grades help out and move a ton of mulch, bowl by bowl! (1998/99) digging a hole; an article by Mrs. Watson describing the first grade's participation (1998/99) Nature and Art; a glorious day in September when Barbara Clark, of the Nature Center, and Emma Craib, the art teacher, taught the 5th grades in the Schoolyard Habitat

		Background: 1997/98 planning construction See what we did for the inauguration of the garden! 2004 Click here to see the construction of the boardwalk!


	One fall students, parents and school staff all pitched in to tidy up. We still don't know who planted the Indian corn in the garden! It was so nice that next year we will have to plant a bigger patch!!

		Index to all garden pages.... This is the 8th year of our garden. Established in 1998 just during a record heat wave, it survived another very hot summer and drought in 1999, actually making it through the following winter in pretty good shape. The next summer (2000) was cool and wetter, which was easier on new trees. Summer 2001 was easy, too, plus our planned use of plants that could deal with unpampered conditions is paying off now that they are better rooted. Summer (2002) started well with adequate rain in spite of the general drought in the NE. Fall and early winter rains also helped our trees and bushes get ready for winter. The new sprinkler system was installed in 2003 with awesome results. You never saw bigger weeds! 2003/2004 saw the completion of the boardwalk that will allow class visits to the garden even after a rain...plus we can sit anywhere on the boardwalk now to sketch or take notes, or simply look and listen. 2006-2007 was a rough year with tons of work in other areas completely eliminating thought or work on the garden. The result is an amazing wilderness, great for wildlife study, but allso a sad indicator of how quickly one of CT's worst invasive species, the bittersweet, will begin to take over!

	Next year, 2007-2008, we will be looking to review the habitat's goals in light of patterns of use and practical considerations. In our attempt to control weeds in the past with mulch we have killed off many of our plants! Bark infections on shrubs and simple suffocation of herbaceous specimens due to the mulch creeping (or being applied) too closely.
This index will allow you to explore any facet of our garden that takes your interest. Everything from learning basic botany to how to plan a garden or seeing how kids use it.