The Secret of Getting Students to Use the Garden

BHSEC student use of The Bard Yard has been a regular topic of conversation every time garden committee members get together. Reports of how many were seen, in which section, and what exactly they were doing always comes up whenever we meet.

This year there is more of everything to draw people toward the yard--more shade, more seats, and more flowering plants. But I heard something through the grapevine that really indicates to me that the students will be using the garden more than ever--there is a wifi hotspot somewhere on the Mangin Street side!

The New Garden Shed has Arrived!

Lowe's delivered the new garden shed today. We'll be using it to store the garden supplies to hide the mess while at the same time making everything more accessible for our BHSEC gardeners!

It's not assembled yet but here's what it will look like:

The initial parts for the irrigation system are also now here too. After much debate the team opted to go with an above ground sprinkler system. This design is less costly and still provides BHSEC with the option of upgrading to an in-ground drip system later on.

Here are the sprinklers that we will be using:

The sprinklers will be set on an automatic timer and will have their spray patterns adjusted to minimize any unnecessary water run-off. We're testing them this Friday so stay tuned for more updates!

Big Week at Bard

There was lot going on at BHSEC this week. First, Ray Peterson announced his retirement. I heard, through my daughter, that the students gave him a huge round of applause when he announced this to them on Tuesday. They are very sad about his leaving. The Gardening Committee has a lot to thank him for (besides his school leadership). If not for him the "Bard Yard" would not look as good as it does now, or as gorgeous as it is bound to be later this spring and summer.

Second it was Parent-teacher conference week. It was my last one at Bard and I enjoyed visiting with teachers and other parents in the hallways. I saw Kristi and Susan and they both mentioned the new growth they observed in the garden.


Kristi mentioned seeing buds on the trees. Great news--they survived the winter!


And the bulbs are sprouting and flowering.


It looks like three different types of bulbs are coming up here.

The plants in this pot survived the winter too.

The moon is visible in this picture (it was about 3 in the afternoon). Can anyone out there identify trees by shape?

Lowe's Toolbox for Education Grant Success!

Recently garden committee member Helen Slavin was excited to let us all know that she'd gotten a letter from Lowe's informing us that we were selected to receive a $2600 grant for "The Bard Yard."

Lowe's donates $5 million to public schools every year through their Toolbox for Education Grants. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lowe's. The bulk of this money will be spent on an automated sprinkler system and as I've mentioned in earlier entries watering the garden has been extremely labor-intensive and time consuming. This grant will help to ease the maintenance and ensure the future of the garden.

It's been a while since I posted so to jog my memory I looked through the past blog entries and found this one with details of our plans for a sprinkler system. Some of the members will be meeting soon to nail down the particulars for ordering the system.

If any parents of the Bard H.S. Early College community see this blog and are interested in joining the committee please leave a comment and make sure that you are put onto our group email list. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have as well. We would love to have new members to help out with future planning, the sprinkler installation and spring planting (which is really fun and satisfying).

P.S. I just scrolled backward (fast) through the past blog entries. I recommend it if you'd like to get a pictorial history of the 2009 garden.

Bulb Planting on Saturday

The Garden Committee got together last Saturday (December 6th) to plant bulbs in the beds surrounding our new trees.

Helen, Tim, and Lourdes holding the pictures of the bulbs that we planted.

I think that's Rebecca working in the southwestern corner of the yard.


Karen (aka: me)

Sonia transplanted some of our perennials from this summer's garden into the beds.


I can't wait until spring... The class of 2011 will have a beautiful yard for their graduation.

Bardvark Article about the Garden and Tree Planting

This BHSEC student newspaper article on the tree planting by the city mentions the efforts of the garden committee members and the ECO Club.

photo by Olivia Winn

The Trees Have Been Planted

The trees are all in. This picture was taken last Saturday while the gardeners were still working. It's taken some teamwork and planning, but it all seems to come off without a hitch thanks to all involved.

Near the end of the planning stage, on October 21, the Bard Garden Committee met with the student group, the ECO Club. You can see where they laid out masking tape to show where the trees would eventually go.

One week later members of the ECO Club started to move the plants away from the areas where the digging and tree planting would occur.


I took these photos from Mangin Street, outside the chain link fence. You can see a number of the new trees far away on the other side of the yard.

I think the gardeners thought I was a crazy lady taking photos of them. These shots are not that picturesque and they knew it.



Looks nice! I love that the baby's breath is thriving on the stone slope next to the trees.

A parting shot of one of the chrysanthemums that were still blooming on Saturday.