How We Created Our Environmental Center

Creating an environmental center on your school grounds is so much fun.  It can be as small as a few garden plots or as extensive as ours is.  The first step is to create a landscape plan.  This plan includes the layout of the gardens.  Ours also included where specific plants were to be planted and other features such as the pond, paths, tables, etc.  We had to do a lot of research in this part of the planning because we had to learn which plants and trees grew best in our climate and soil, and what type of plants to put in each of the theme gardens.  We have many different types of gardens:  an annual garden, bulb garden, hummingbird garden, butterfly garden, wildflower garden, vegetable garden, herb garden, earthworm farm, strawberry patch, perennial garden, and a sunflower garden. 

After the initial landscape plan was created we looked at irrigation.  Because our environmental center was so large, we decided to have an automatic irrigation system with six zones installed.  This gives us control over when to water and how long we will water each zone.  The irrigation system is wonderful because during the hot, dry summer months, we don't have to worry about someone watering!  The irrigation system was pretty expensive, but well worth it. 

Once the initial plans were completed we were ready to start the actual landscaping. We had a parent who owned an asphalt paving company grade the entire area and put down new topsoil for us.  He also dug the pond.  Several weekends were spent with parents and students spreading out the topsoil and getting everything ready.

The next step was to build the gardens.  We chose to have raised gardens which we built with landscape timbers.  Parent and community volunteers built the raised gardens. The next step was to install the irrigation system.  We had this professionally done.

Once the irrigation system was installed we were ready to start planting!  Several local nurseries "adopted" a garden and came to the school to assist the students with planting.

After all the gardens were planted we had the trees and shrubbery to plant.  Students planted the smaller shrubs and trees, but the larger ones were installed by a nursery.  All of our trees were purchased through grant funds from the Alabama Forestry Commission.

The next step was to add the paths, lay down sod, complete the pond, and add the finishing touches such as birdhouses, birdfeeders, tables, benches, etc. 

Finally, the big day was here.  Our official Opening Ceremony!

In all, the project took an entire year to complete.  Even with donations, the project was an expensive one.  We got donations from our city council ($30,000) a grant from the Junior League for the curriculum materials in the Environmental Classroom ($23,000), and a grant from the Alabama Forestry Commission ($7,600).  We had two major school fund raisers.  We made $4,000 through selling seed packs and $!,600 through recycling aluminum cans.  In addition, the PTA donated about $3,000 and various individuals in the community donation materials, time, labor and money.  The final cost for the project which included the gardens, the environmental classroom, and all the curriculum materials and equipment was approximately $70,000.

The Environmental Center has yearly maintenance costs.  Gardens need additional plants, the pond pump needs to be replaced every couple of years, new mulch is purchased twice a year, and new things need to be added.  We have a yearly recycling campaign in which all funds are used for the environmental center maintenance.  In addition, our PTA provides approximately $1,500 per year for maintenance such as lawn cutting during the summer.  

Our Environmental Center and Environmental Classroom won the "Best Environmental School Project" for the state of Alabama in 1997. 

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