Enveloped and encouraged by bountiful sunshine and moderate temperatures, the excited members of Westlake High School’s Earth Tomorrow Club broke ground on their 500 square foot Pride Lands garden located on the south side of campus.  The day’s activities included amending the soil within the perimeter of the space and developing the layout and design of the new garden.  Bird Butterfly and Bee Coordinator Lauren Sandoval, our Nursery Manager Hilary Nichols, and I began by giving the attentive students a short lecture on the safety and handling of the required tools.  We separated into two groups: one would design the garden’s layout and the other would begin amending the soil.  Soil amendment is the addition of organic material to enrich the existing soil that may have not been suitable for required growing conditions for specific types of plants.  In this case, we mixed in a truckload of compost to loosen and prepare the soil to receive the types of native plants going into the garden.   With the Georgia sun shining down on us, we took our time during water breaks to revel in our progress and thoroughly enjoy the beautiful day.

When arranging native plants in a garden, it is important to know that the selection of plants is based on the conditions of the soil moisture content and amount of light in a day’s time. Throughout the day, the students began to understand this fundamental need to assimilate the plants into the garden according to their specific conditions.  Eager to construct and complete the design, the students came up with two practical models of how they would like their Pride Lands garden to look.

At the end of the hour, all the soil amending and garden designing came together. Each student walked away with the enjoyment of the day’s activities and a sense of pride at what they just achieved together. Next week, our outdoor work will continue with the Pride Lands Planting!  We are excited for another successful day of working outside andgetting our hands dirty.