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How to Build a School Garden

Richard Louv published his book, Last Child in the Woods, in 2005. Since the book was published, more and more public schools have realized the importance of providing children with interactive spaces to engage with nature. Schools that have incorporated more community gardens into their campuses have popped up across the country, including in Flagstaff, Denver, Seattle, Oakland, Little Rock, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Chicago, and here in Texas in Austin and Houston.

Richard Louv describes Nature Deficit Disorder, a phrase he coined, as “the human costs of alienation from nature,” a modern problem that he believes really began in the 1970s. His book inspired the creation of the Children & Nature Network, which has provided support to public schools to bring nature back to their campuses with the Green Schoolyards initiative.

Why Build School Gardens?

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, nearly 20% of children aged 3-17 years struggle with a mental, emotional, or behavioral challenge. Right here in DFW, that would be about 350,000 kids. The AAP cites a CDC study (2021-2023 data) indicating about 20% of adolescents age 12-17 have unmet mental health needs.

There are so many reasons to say yes to more school gardens. Charlotte Olver of the Royal Horticultural Society in England shares "10 ways that gardening improves children and young people’s mental and physical health." Cathy Jordan with the non-profit Children & Nature Network writes about the therapeutic and learning outcome gains that children get from time spent in a garden. In 2009, a team of Dutch researchers found a lower incidence of 15 illnesses – including depression, anxiety, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and migraines – in people who lived within half a mile of green space.

Erin Bunch writes about the value of community gardens in her article, "Being Outside Is Good For Your Body and Mind — Here's Why." Spending quality time in nature doesn't require taking a week-long trip out to a national park. It's about spending 15 minutes in nature each day, 5-7 days a week. Some place close to home that you can walk to and engage with neighbors. Dr. Aimee Daramus is a Chicago-based psychologist who specializes in anxiety, depression, and trauma. She writes: "Studies show that you can get really good results from urban green space, like parks and gardens [with just 15 minutes a day]. You don't have to wait until you can take a vacation in the woods to reap the benefits."

Dr. Heather Eliassen is a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. She writes: "Green spaces also offer opportunities for social interactions and community engagement, which have been linked beneficially to multiple health outcomes. This includes not only mental health benefits such as lower rates of depression, but also physical health benefits such as lowered rates of chronic disease. While these interactions can be as simple as running into a friend while walking your dog or meeting someone new in the park, they can also be facilitated by organizations such as community gardens..."

“[Time spent outdoors] provides a combination of stimulation of different senses and a break from typical overstimulation from urban environments,” she said. “Exposure to green space results in mental restoration and increased positive emotions and decreased anxiety and rumination. Improved mindfulness can result from exposure to green space as well.”

Austin and Houston ISDs

Austin ISD launched their Green School Park Program which is "a network of school parks that provide schools, and the surrounding community, the opportunity to learn from, steward, and play in nature." The program was developed in coordination with Austin ISD, the city's Parks and Recreation Department, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the Texas Children in Nature Network, and other partners. In Houston ISD and the Greater Houston area, the SPARK School Park Program began in the 1980s to build more community spaces on ISD properties, with over 200 new parks opened to the community since the program began.

What Can We Do?

A 400 square foot community butterfly garden can be built for $280. If you and three friends can pitch in $70 each, you can start a garden at your public school. In this article, we'll show you step-by-step exactly how to build a community garden with drought-tolerant, butterfly-attracting plants that require no soil amendments or expensive irrigation setup that can break (or cost money for water).

Gardening is a great way to get some exercise and meet somewhere other than at a coffeeshop to chat with friends. Your $70 creates a permanent space in the community, with perennial plants that come back every year, getting bigger each year, and open to everyone in the community who needs a space for nature therapy. That's probably one of the best ways to invest $70 into your community.

This community garden will be home to 40 plants that are native or very well adapted to our hot and dry DFW summers. The ongoing cost of maintaining the garden will be minimal. With no irrigation system needed (that could break and require repairs), and no watering bills, the only ongoing cost of the garden is a bit of spring and fall maintenance of the plants. At Soils Alive, we offer PTA members who volunteer at a school garden $120/year in savings on our lawn care services.

A Garden For Everyone

Richardson ISD has 50 schools. What would it cost for every school to have a garden? To give the 35,000+ students of RISD a 400 SF garden would cost less than 50 cents per student. Not $0.50 per year.....less than $0.50 once. The plants purchased to build these gardens would raise $2000 for the Richardson Council of PTAs, supporting Richardson public school teachers.

Across DFW, over 600,000 kids are educated in 13 school districts in 900+ schools. That’s Richardson, Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Irving, Arlington, Allen, Frisco, Lewisville, McKinney, Plano, Prosper, Denton, Fort Worth, and Dallas ISD. These 900+ school campuses have lots of open space where gardens could be built, to offer children access to nature and provide support for their mental health.

These gardens would give 35,000 plants to offer food and habitat for birds and other wildlife. In Richardson ISD’s 50 schools, it would cost 38 cents per child to build the gardens. Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, it would cost 47 cents per child. Irving ISD, 34 cents. Arlington ISD, 40 cents. Frisco and Allen ISD, 33 cents. Lewisville, 37 cents. McKinney, 40 cents. Plano, 50 cents. Prosper, 29 cents. Denton, 42 cents. Dallas, 50 cents. Fort Worth, 54 cents.

What You'll Need

When to Get Started

You'll want to start mulching your garden area 3 months before you plant, to give the mulch enough time to block the sunlight and rot away the grass roots underneath. If you want to install your plants April 1st, you'll want to get this step done anytime from September 1 - January 1, when the weather is cool. If you want to install plants on October 1st, you'll want to get this step done from March 1 - July 1, before it gets hot.

If you install your plants in the spring (April 1), keep in mind that you'll need to provide extra water to these plants during their first summer. That's fine if the garden is within 100' of a water source (at a school) but that could be a problem at a city park. For areas that don't have water access, plan on installing the garden in the fall, so they won't need this supplemental watering.

Preparing the Garden Site

Check with the school or city to ensure there's no underground utilities running through your site (and get permission for the garden of course). Then stake off the four corners of the community garden site with four flags or garden stakes, set about 1' beyond the perimeter of the garden. Once staked out, have the site mowed as low as possible. Then ask to have it gone over with a string trimmer/weed-eater to scalp the grass very short, all the way to the ground level. Get your woodchips delivered as close to the garden site as possible, to avoid the work of hauling the chips far with a wheelbarrow. Dump trucks shouldn't be driving over underground irrigation pipes, so keep that in mind as you plan your delivery.

Rake away any sharp sticks/rocks that may be on the site. Next lay thick painter's paper across the site. On top of this first layer, run a second layer, covering up the joints of the first layer. For a 400-500 SF garden, you'll need 2 rolls of 3'x166' (costs $80 for both). For a 800-1000 SF garden, you'll need 4 rolls ($160). It's worth every penny to help suppress weeds and kill the grass without using herbicide or needing to till the area.....and easier to handle with a compact roll than lots of cardboard boxes broken down.

Next spread 2" of wood chip mulch on top of the paper, starting at the perimeter of the garden. As you lay the mulch, you can push the wheelbarrow over the areas already covered to spread in towards the center. Be careful to not puncture or damage the paper, as this is what keeps the grass covered, depriving it of sunlight to rot the roots away. Any puncture is an opportunity for the grass to poke through. You can keep a few scraps of paper, in case you need to patch any "holes."

If you and three other volunteers arrive at a mowed/scalped site, with your mulch pile already delivered, with 3 wheelbarrows, 3 shovels, and 1 rake, plan on spending about 4-5 hours to get this job done. Lay out the paper. Use a bit of mulch to weigh down the sides. Three people will load up and dump the chips, and the fourth will rake it to a 2" depth.

How Much Mulch?

If you're asking the city or ISD to deliver free mulch....how much should you ask for? You'll need between 6-14 cubic yards, depending on the size garden you want, which is about 20-40% of a standard dump truck capacity (25 cubic yards, for a truck that's 8.5' wide by 24.5' long). An entire dump truck can bring 675 cubic feet....enough to cover a 2000 SF area 4" deep.

Your garden will need just 2" of mulch. Next year, as the mulch breaks down, you'll want to add more to any bare spots in the garden. Starting out, you'll need 3-7 cubic yards of material. But it's a good idea to get twice this much delivered, and pile the extra just outside the garden, to have for the next few years of maintenance. That's 6-14 cubic yards.

Planting Day

Once the mulch has been spread and covered the site for at least 3 months, all the rain the site has received has kept the soil moist, where beneficial bacteria and fungi have been breaking down the grass roots. You might find earthworms have started coming to the site, with the mulch keeping the site cooler, blocking the heat of the sun, and keeping in more soil moisture too. When it's time to plant, you can take your garden design and measure out where each plant should go.

On your paper garden design, 1" = 2 feet so you'll measure with a ruler from the paper design, and place each plant using a 25' tape measure to where it belongs in the garden. Once all the plants are in place, then you'll dig your planting holes with a hand trowel. The plants are in 4" pots, so dig your holes about 6" deep and wide, crumbling and loosening the soil. No need to add soil amendments as these plants love the clay soils of DFW. Water in each plant with 4 cups of water. If you're far from a water source, bring 10 gallons of water for 40 plants, or 20 gallons for 80 (3 or 6, 5-gallon buckets 80% full).

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400 Square Foot Meander

Here's an example of what your garden could look like. Get creative. Use our garden template to create your own design. These plants aren't like trees. You can dig them up and move them again later on, if you need to. Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good! It's okay to start with a basic design, plant the garden, and as you see how it looks, make some adjustments later on. The best time to dig and relocate plants are in the fall, after the fall frost (around November 20th).

This garden has 40 plants, 2 each of 20 types (all of these 25 plants, except Four-Nerve Daisy, Black Eyed Susan, Yellow Sundrop, Prairie Verbena, and New Gold Lantana). The garden is 16' x 25', drawn on paper as 8" x 12.5" (1" = 2 feet scale), with a 12" border all around the exterior of the garden of wood chip mulch to keep out weeds (~500 SF in total). It has about 100 SF of walkway (2.5-3' wide) and 300 SF planted. With 2" deep mulch, you'll need 83 cubic feet (3 cubic yards, or 6 cubic yards so you have extra mulch for next year).

We've designed the garden with the purpose of walking through, from either direction, with a meandering path to slow you down and take in the sights. As you enter the garden (bottom right), on your right is Catmint (S1), a low-growing (2' tall) long-blooming plant with many flowers for bees. Behind the catmint is the Copper Canyon Daisy (M11, 3' tall) which blooms in late fall and offers green leafy foliage from spring-fall that's very aromatic. Gregg's Mistflower comes next (M3), with blooms from spring through fall (requiring some maintenance to trim it back a few times a year), a fall favorite for the migrating Monarch butterfly. Then comes the Indigo Spires Salvia (T6), a bumblebee favorite with very tall, slender bloom spikes. In the back is the 5' tall Flame Acanthus (T1), for hummingbirds.

As the path curves to the left, there is Zexmenia (M7, in front of the Turks Cap), a 3' tall mounding plant with yellow blooms. Behind it is the Fall Obedient Plant (T4), blooming in late summer. White Yarrow (M4) provides white blooms in late spring. Dallas Red Lantana (M5) offers red blooms from spring through fall. Behind the lantana is the Pink Gaura (T5), with light pink blooms. Next is the Purple Coneflower (M2) for butterflies, in front of the Mexican Honeysuckle (T3) for hummingbirds. White Autumn Sage (M9) and Turks Cap (T2) are next, with Pink Skullcap (T2) in front for a low border. The final curve out of the garden is lined with Gray Goldenrod (M1), Rock Rose (M6), Mexican Oregano (M12), and Damianita (S3). Frogfruit (S4), not shown on the design, can be planted anywhere, to creep along the walkway, in both directions, with a thin, 12" tall border for small butterflies.

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400 Square Foot Sitting Garden

This garden is the same size, with the same plants, but is designed with a 12' long area to sit, curving around the small planting area in the bottom middle area (with M2 at bottom, and M11 at top). A row of 12 tree stumps could be placed for children, or 6 park benches, to view the tall plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Or you could simply sit on the ground on the woodchip mulch.

Facing the garden, you'll notice the row of tall plants in the back (T1, T2, T5, and T4) which are Flame Acanthus and Turks Cap, both hummingbird attractors, and Pink Gaura and Fall Obedient Plant which are loved by bumblebees and butterflies. In front of this tall border is Dallas Red Lantana (M5), Mexican Honeysuckle (T3), and Indigo Spires Salvia (T6). Framing each side of the garden, along the entry pathways, are Gray Goldenrod (M1), Rock Rose (M6), Gregg's Mistflower (M3), Catmint (S1), and Mexican Oregano (M12). In the bottom center, there is Purple Coneflower (M2), Zexmenia (M7), White Yarrow (M4), White Autumn Sage (M9), and Copper Canyon Daisy (M11). For a low border along the entryway, Damianita (S3) and Pink Skullcap (S2). Frogfruit (S4), not shown, can be planted anywhere to trail 12" tall along the pathway.

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760 Square Foot Meander

If you have a larger space available, find 7 other volunteers to join you and each pitch in $70 for a larger garden that's 23' by 33' and has 80 plants, 4 each of the same 20 types. With a 12" border around the exterior of the garden, to keep out weeds, 2" deep mulch requires 146 cubic feet (5.50 cubic yards).

As you enter the garden (from the bottom), you'll see Dallas Red Lantana (M5) and White Autumn Sage (M9), long-blooming red and white flowers. Gray Goldenrod (M1), blooming in late summer, and Turks Cap (T2) are behind these. Gregg's Mistflower (M3), Flame Acanthus (T1), and Rock Rose (M6) complete the 1st half of the garden, with Frogfruit (S4) crawling along the walkway for a 12" tall thin border, alongside White Yarrow (M4).

Moving towards the exit of the garden is Indigo Spires (T6) and Fall Obedient Plant (T4), with Copper Canyon Daisy (M11) and Catmint (S1) in front. Next comes Mexican Honeysuckle (T3), Pink Gaura (T5), Zexmenia (M7), and Mexican Oregano (M12). Finishing the entry/exit is Purple Coneflower (M2), Damianita (S3) and Pink Skullcap (S2)

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800 Square Foot Sitting Garden

A bit larger, at 25' by 32', this garden provides a 14' long seating area, facing an amphitheater-style planting area to showcase hummingbird and butterfly attracting blooms. (Be sure to orient the seating area facing East, so that the harsh afternoon sun is behind you and not in your face) With a 12" border around the exterior to keep out weeds, you'll need 153 cubic feet of mulch (5.7 cubic yards).

In the very back are the 5' tall Flame Acanthus (T1) and in front are 4' tall Turks Cap (T2), 3' tall Purple Coneflower (M2), 2' tall (when pruned a bit) Mexican Oregano (M12), and 2' tall Catmint (S1) and 12" tall Frogfruit (S4)......a descending wall of long-blooming plants for hummingbirds and butterflies.

On both sides of this central view are, from the back, Fall Obedient Plant (T4, 5'), Mexican Honeysuckle (T3, 4'), Indigo Spires Salvia (T6, 4'), Gregg's Mistflower (M3, 3'), Zexmenia (M7, 3'), Pink Gaura (T5, 5'), Rock Rose (M6, 4') Copper Canyon Daisy (M11, 3'), and Damianita (S3, 2'). Gray Goldenrod (M1, 3') and Dallas Red Lantana (M5, 3') frame the entrance. In the center, behind the 14' long seating area, all 3' or shorter is a row of White Autumn Sage (M9) and White Yarrow (M4), with Pink Skullcap (S2) on either side.

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1000 Square Foot - Walkaround

Designed for walkthrough traffic, this mirror-image design gives visitors (during busy times) access from either direction to flow through the garden, or (when slower) visitors can circle around the entire garden. With about 40 feet of inner walkway, a group of kids can sit in the garden and observe from a variety of different angles. At 27' by 37', you'll need 1000 SF for this design. With a 12" border on the exterior to keep out weeds (1131 SF), you'll need 189 cubic feet of mulch (7 cubic yards).

As you face the entrance, you'll see the short, yellow-blooming Damianita (S3), with Turks Cap (T2), Pink Gaura (T5), and Flame Acanthus (T1) behind. Walking to the right, in the center garden you'll find Mexican Honeysuckle (T3), with Mexican Oregano (M12) in front, and a cluster of four Fall Obedient Plant (T4) in the background, framing the center of the space. The design repeats, mirrored.

From the entrance, walking to the right, on the outside border the design begins with Gregg's Mistflower (M3), Purple Coneflower (M2), and with Dallas Red Lantana (M5) in the background....all great for butterflies. Frogfruit (S4) creeps along the front border with 12" tall white blooms, with more white from the Yarrow (M4) and White Autumn Sage (M9) behind.

Catmint (S1) provides a 2' tall front border, with Gray Goldenrod (M1) at 3' behind, followed by Zexmenia (M7) at 3' tall with Rock Rose (M6) at 4' behind. More Frogfruit (S4) with another White Autumn Sage, and Pink Skullcap (S2) at 12" and Indigo Spires Salvia (T6) behind at 4'., and the entry/exit framed with Copper Canyon Daisy (M11) at 3'.

Taking the First Step

Finding three people to help you..... that's your first step. Once you have a group of four, willing to spend the money and volunteer, with a garden design in hand showing what it will look like, meet with your school's PTA president, and then present it to the school principle. With your group of four, you might end up finding four or eight others who want to join in, to help create a larger garden.

Do people have the time and money to help you? Consider this: the average American gives 180 hours of our attention each year to the Facebook platform, making money selling ads that reach us (that's 30 minutes daily). Wouldn't we rather spend time in a community garden, and show our kids to spend less time on devices and more time outdoors? If we gave 10% of that time to the garden, that's 18 hours. So we already do have the time.

And the money? Americans spend $110 billion on coffee each year, over $500 per adult. If we spent 15% of that money, we could build all the gardens DFW would ever need. You might grow plants for tea in the garden, and cut down on caffeine consumption for the many health benefits. Our communities do have the time, and the money. If we want it, we can do it. Ask ten of your friends….will you help me build a community garden at our kids school? Can you pitch in $30-50? If you take on the initiative to invite your friends to get together, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how many of them say yes.

Giving every child in DFW a garden isn't something that will happen, unless we decide to make it happen. It will take a few thousand people doing their small part. We have a lot of work to do, but we have lots of hard-working people in our communities, from our bus drivers, teachers, principles, PTA volunteers, and crossing guards. We can show the kids what it looks like to take ownership of our communities, roll up our sleeves, put down the digital devices for a bit, talk to neighbors we haven’t met yet, and build something beautiful together. I think that we'll be very glad we did.

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