range of possible projects. We steer schools toward a 

 year-round landscape that feeds into the curriculum 

 year after year and away from the one-time planting. 

 This stabilizes the project, provides for ongoing mainte- 

 nance, and ensures continuation into the future. 



Wildlife landscapes are used for teaching in all sea- 

 sons, in all disciplines. Autumn is a good time to begin 

 a site assessment. Students learn math and geography 

 skills by mapping the schoolyard; they practice lan- 

 guage skills in researching and keeping accurate 

 records. Over the winter, they research, design, and 

 plan. Spring offers new opportunities to survey migrant 

 wildlife and newly emerging vegetation By the end of 

 the first year, an enhancement plan is in place. Then a 

 school will often install a simple 'starter" project such 

 as a butterfly garden. The physical nature of the dig- 

 ging, planting, and building appeals to children; they 

 see the results of their actions for wildlife 



Wildlife landscapes are used 

 for teaching in all seasons, 

 in all disciplines. ?^ 



Project HOIVIE emphasizes a team approach A suc- 

 cessful school is most often one that gathers a team of 

 diverse participants within the school community who 

 will direct and support the project. Once the plan is in 

 place, individuals can come in and help with specific 

 parts. 



For instance, Great Brook School in Antrim arranged 

 visits from the Soil Conservation Service, Cooperative 

 Extension, Fish and Game, Harris Center for Environ- 

 mental Studies, and New Hampshire artists. Most 

 worked with the students for an afternoon; some for 

 several days. These experiences prepared the students 

 to research, design, and implement their projects. 



At Great Brook, these included designing and build- 

 ing a wetlands boardwalk, planting a wildlife area (with 

 blackberry bushes, highbush blueberry, butterfly weed, 

 phlox, bee balm, arrowwood, and lupine), and creating 

 a butterfly garden and gateway they designed with a 

 sculptor. The gateway is made of concrete embossed 

 with students' drawings of wetland wildlife and arched- 

 over with pressure-treated wood in a pattern suggesting 

 a sunrise. Annuals (such as marigolds and petunias) are 

 planted around the base. 



Harold IMartin School in Hopkinton provides another 

 example Although their site abuts several diverse natu- 

 ral areas — including a wetland, woodlands, and fields — 

 these teachers and students focused their efforts on the 

 habitat immediately surrounding the school building, 

 the area that lacked diversity. 



Their planning team included school staff and par- 

 ents. To complete the work, they involved the skills 



and advice of a local landscaper, a stone wall builder, 

 and Audubon Society educators The landscaper helped 

 students shape a river-like pathway of field stones in- 

 terspersed with hand-printed concrete slabs. The path 

 winds around butterfly and hummingbird gardens 

 planted with annuals (pansies, johnny-jump-ups, and 

 sunflowers), herbs (lemon balm and mint), and perenni- 

 als (butterfly bush, lupine, columbine, and purple cone- 

 flower), and a native apple tree given by the local or- 

 chard. A stone wall between the gardens and the park- 

 ing lot provides cover for small animals. Now in the 

 third year of the project, the first grade visited a nurs- 

 ery to purchase shrubs that included highbush blue- 

 berry and spirea. Next steps include building a green- 

 house and cleaning up debris in a small wetland. 



Landscaping for wildlife is a good volunteer opportu- 

 nity for the local garden center or vocational agriculture 

 program. Favorite projects include planting butterfly 

 gardens (which can be easily placed in any sunny area 

 of the school yard lawn), leaving lawn areas unmowed 

 to grow into meadows, designing nature trails and 

 planting them with fruit- and seed-bearing plants (servi- 

 ceberry, highbush cranberry, mountain ash), establishing 

 bird habitat areas with feeders, baths, berry bushes, 

 and cover plants, and installing nest boxes Once 

 projects are in place, the school has an outdoor study 

 lab Continued assessment of a project's success or fail- 

 ure and its impact on wildlife and human communities 

 provides more opportunity for study and exploration. 



Schools also need to know which garden centers and 

 nurseries carry native plants, or can recommend accept- 

 able cultivars. You may already carry some of the plants 

 schools need. They will seek landscaping and design 

 services from businesses that understand wildlife habi- 

 tat gardening. You may be invited to give the students 

 a demonstration of how to plant a tree or prepare a pe- 

 rennial bed. Although some schools have successfully 

 won grants with which they may purchase services and 

 supplies, funding is often an issue and donations of 

 plants, tools, or services are appreciated. 



Working with agencies, like Fish and Game, that ad- 

 minister the programs can help make links between the 

 Green Community and the schools. We can identify 

 schools to contact in your community or, if you let us 

 know of your interest, we can direct schools to you. We 

 can also provide lists of plants beneficial to wildlife. 



Habitat loss is the number one threat facing wildlife 

 in the world today. Project HOME is one way schools 

 and their communities can start to turn that trend 

 around. 



Marilyn C. Wyzga is coordinator oj Project HOME, 

 New Hampshire Fish and Game's program for schoolyard 

 habitat enhancement. For more information, she can be 

 contacted at the NH Fish and Came Department, 2 Hazen 

 Drive, Concord, NH 03301. Her phone number there is 

 603-271-3211. 



THE PLANTSMAN 



