Marianne and myself had the honour of running a garden design workshop for Ysgol Cilgerran on Friday 20th September, with the same group who came to the Wildlife ID workshop. There were 16 of them, aged 7 to 11.
With the help of mood boards, we asked the question what does wildlife need in a garden, followed up with what humans want and what food should we grow.
Five star luxury accommodation in the Hope Garden
It was a very different setting to letting children loose in a field with a net and a magnifying glass, and it was a fair bit of work to keep some of the children engaged and on-track. Massive respect to teachers and teaching assistants, I was exhausted after 2 hours!
What was striking was the range of ideas and approaches. One of the groups I worked with was bubbling with different perspectives (a bridge over a wildlife pond, a bird hide, with a green roof, a picnic area…), and the creativity was focussed around the conversation rather than the drawing. Other groups worked together on magnificent, colourful drawings, others worked alone. The drawings will be available soon on the gallery page.
A garden full of trees, food, habitat and life
The design of the garden starts in earnest in October, with landscaping scheduled for January (weather permitting!!). All of the childrens’ ideas will be incorporated in some shape or form, and it will be a real pleasure to point out the features when they visit.
At the end of the session, we put together the ideas in a list. Can’t wait to start designing!
Wildlife
- Pond x2
- Bugwall
- Fleabane
- Insect shelter
- Treehouse for birds
- Woodland
- Fountain
People
- Picnic area x2
- Bird hide
- Hangout / hut
- Dome - hay roof, wood walls
- Cabin & tree house
- Hammock
- Fountain
Food
- Cherries
- Apples x3
- Blackberries
- Strawberries
- Gooseberries
- Sweetcorn
- Pears
- Raspberries