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• Surrey Heath in Bloom 2008
• • 2008 Wildlife Garden Gallery
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  • School Wildlife Garden Advice
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School Wildlife Garden Advice

This year's In Bloom competition includes the traditional Wildlife Garden category. The gardens that are entered into this increasingly popular category are judged by Surrey Heath's Rangers.

Are you a teacher or pupil at one of the Borough's schools with an existing wildlife garden or plans to create one? Here is some advice based on the things that the Rangers will be looking for when judging the entries - follow these and you're in with a really good chance!

Ponds - You must have one! If necessary, get parents to help dig one! If you can get labour for free then the material costs are more bearable! The pond we made in the Country Park cost less than £250 in liners and turfs and is now a thriving habitat. Make sure you design your pond so it has gently sloping sides rather than paved edges, so that frogs, toads and newts can climb in and out, and place piles of pebbles around the waters edge for those amphibians to hide in. Remember, these amphibians are not just an excellent education resource and they will eat pests in your vegetable patches if nearby! Grow marginal plants in the shallow water round the sides and oxygenating sub-surface plants in the murky depths! Make sure the pond is unshaded by surrounding trees and DON'T put fish in it - they will eat all the watersnails, beetles and tadpoles!

Grassy areas - Being a school you probably have lots of short grass areas. Stop mowing as much of the grass as possible within the area you are going to set aside for your wildlife garden. Let it grow long and then cut it at the end of the summer. Pile the cuttings nearby to make a home for nesting grass snakes (non-venomous!) and hibernating slow-worms. Or start a compost pile and put them on that. Sow native meadow wildflower seeds on bare ground, and make small piles of logs for beasties to hide in! With just a few children you can dig over small patches of grass (removing the turfs first) and sow meadow wildflower seeds- very cheap. If you have more money available then you can buy wildflower plugs (young but established plants) and plant them in the meadow area.

Woods/trees - Make log piles in any wooded areas, plant native trees, and hang up lots of bird feeders and bird boxes.

Vegetable patches - In our experience the best, fastest, easiest and cheapest way to make a school vegetable garden is to use reclaimed railway sleepers. For each raised bed you will need 3 full length sleepers. Cut one into halves and use these to form the ends of a rectangle with the two uncut sleepers forming the sides. Then, when you have positioned the timbers in a suitable place (considering sunlight and visibility to vandals), remove the surface turf from within the rectangle and dig and turn over the soil below. Add topsoil and/or compost and dig in. The advantage of using sleepers is that you create a raised bed which enables you to add this extra soil (and therefore nutrients) without having to cart away some of the original soil to create room for it. This would not be possible with, for example, a border of paving. You would also find the slabs would shift and separate allowing weeds to grow up through the gaps unlike with the sleepers whose inherent weight should keep them in position provided the ground they lie on is level. In addition, it will be far easier to maintain the paths between the beds, either strimming grass (with the sleepers providing an edge to work to) or by covering the paths with membrane and woodchips (with the sleepers keeping the chips out of the beds).

Extras! Other things you can put in the area that can have a really good wildlife benefit are bee boxes and insect homes, hedgehog and bird boxes, compost bins, rainwater collectors, and lots of nectar-producing flowers. The use of recycled materials in your garden is a great way to save money and is good for the environment too!

As you can see, there are many things you can do to make your school garden more wildlife-friendly - and all without making it look like a wilderness!

Bear in mind that every year the Surrey Heath In Bloom competition includes the traditional Wildlife Garden category. The gardens that are entered into this increasingly popular category are judged by us (Surrey Heath Ranger Service). You now know the sort of things that we will be looking for when judging the entries - do as many of these as possible and you're in with a really good chance!

Good Luck!