PLANTING THE RURAL SCHOOL GROUNDS 



General Aim 



Any plan for the improvement of the school grounds should first of all be 

 simple. No elaborate or pretentious effects should be attempted in their 

 development. The primary aim should be to retain and increase the natural 

 beauty of the surrounding scenery, making the grounds a beauty spot in the 

 rural landscape, rather than a formal, artificial, or imported element in the 

 scenery. A school ground should possess the same general character of 

 beauty as is indigenous to the neighborhood, making it appear not as some- 

 thing separate and distinct from the surroundings, but as an attractive and 

 pleasing portion of the general landscape. 



Use of Native Plants 



. For these reasons the trees, shrubs, and plants that are used to develop 

 the rural school grounds can well be of the kinds found in the neighboring 

 fields and woods. Such plants will be naturalistic and harmonious in the 

 landscape, and better adapted to the climatic and soil conditions of the place 

 than some exotic plants that might be purchased from a nursery. 



Therefore, the expense that might be incurred in purchasing plants for 

 this work should not detain ambitious teachers from developing the school 

 grounds. Nursery plants of the kinds most adapted to the conditions are 

 easier to transplant successfully because of their more branched and fibrous 

 root systems, but similar kinds from the fields may be successfully trans- 

 planted if the work is carefully and properly done. 



The interest and enthusiasm of children may be aroused for this work by 

 arranging field excursions in the early spring, which is the season when the 

 plants should be transplanted, to fields and woods, where they may be 

 found, and where under the teachers' direction they may be carefully dug 

 and then transferred to the school grounds. The earlier in the spring this 

 work is done, the better are the chances of success. The aim in digging 

 should be to retain as many of the roots as practicable and to keep them 

 moist and protected from exposure to sun and wind. In so far as it is some- 

 times difficult to identify many of the plants in early spring when there is 

 no foliage upon them, it is often desirable to have field excursions in the 

 early fall while the leaves are still on the plants and to mark such plants as 

 are desired for spring planting. Such an excursion could be made in con- 

 nection with a lesson in Botany or Nature Study work. 



The Planting Plan 



Before the planting is started a plan should be drawn to a definite scale 

 (say of 1" to 100, showing the size and location of all existing buildings, 

 walks, drives, plantings and boundaries of the property. With this data as 

 a basis a complete planting plan of the property may be made. The execu- 



