Planting Day

After weeks of preparing our four planting sites two were ready.

Wednesday was the big day. The temperature was just above freezing, a degree or two below dewpoint. Consequently, we had frost.

At this point, we had already finished site selection and prep and picked our plants.

This is a reenactment of our final step in the planning process.

Chandler S. and Juliet represent a mountain laurel. Chandler P. is a skeleton leaf goldeneye. Kallie, Sarah, and Holly are Will Fleming yaupon hollies. Blake, Steven, and Niles are purple salvias. We selected all evergreens to work as a windbreak. It is so windy at this spot that mulch blows away. Holly suggested crushed granite as a top dressing (which we did).

What follows are the steps we used installing our garden beds.

Step 1.

Measure and dig the hole. Hold the blade of the shovel against the pot. Make a visual mark on the blade at the top of the soil line within the pot. Dig hole a little wider than the container and as deep as the soil line. (Okay, this is technically two steps)

Step 2.

Fill hole 1/2 full of water.

This provides the bottom most roots instant access to moisture.

Step 3.

Gently remove the plant from the container. First try squeezing the sides. If that doesn't work push it out from the bottom. Still not budging? Lay on its side and spank it with your spade or shoe. On 5 gallon sized pots and larger, we frequently employ the spanking method.

Yanking the plant from its pot can cause serious root damage.

Step 4.

Situate in hole. Check depth. Turn to show its best side.

Step 5.

Backfill.

It's important to keep all the soil you remove in one pile so you'll have enough for this step.

Step 6.

Water. Be gentle.

Step 7.

Mulch. This will help retain moisture, insulate the roots, suppress weed growth, and slowly fertilize as the mulch decomposes.

Check out more of our work by clicking on the picture below.

Importance of Outside Time

Nate Rosenberg and I had the pleasure of attending the Texas Children in Nature Conference this past Friday. Since Richard Louv's book, Last Child in the Woods, appeared in 2005, a groundswell of interest has translated into substantial local and national action. The conference celebrated these developments, examined the currently mushrooming body of evidence on the importance of outside time, and began to look toward further actions.

We came away inspired by the insights of more than twenty speakers.

Later, I reflected on how we use the outdoors on our campus.

One obvious way is through PE. Once a week during advisory we take our students out to walk the track or play sports. Since last spring we have had an outdoor classroom. Before this many Art, Math, and English classes have used the picnic area.

I regularly use the campus gardens to give context to science my science instruction.

In this picture students are determining the name of the tree by observing leaf characteristics.

We also participate in Monarch Watch, a citizen science project tracking migration.

Involving students in food production has both educational and nutritional benefits.

Turning talk into action, students periodically conduct litter cleansweeps.

Student analyze and graph the types of trash they collect. Then they identify its origin and propose actions to curb litter.

Students expand and maintain the various gardens around campus.

Off campus field experiences are part of the mix as well. Small students visit Westcave Preserve, the LCRA's Redbud Center, Aquarena Springs in San Marcos, The State Cemetery and Capitol grounds, and The University of Texas campus.

Studies show time out of doors can combat diabetes, obesity, and depression.

For more information on this topic, I highly recommend Richard Louv's book, Last Child in the Woods.

A couple of noteworthy recent articles:

Texas Parks and Recreation Director, Carter P Smith wrote an excellent Opinion piece in last Friday's Austin American-Statesman entitled, "Thinking outside the box is more important than ever these days"

Jane Brody's article last month, "Head out for a daily dose of Green Space" also discusses why outside time is crucial.

For activities and information targeting the Austin area, be sure to add Naturerocksaustin to your bookmarks menu.