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  • Home
  • Nature Hero Awards
  • Resources
    • Workshops
    • Teaching Kits
    • Outdoor Wildlife Signs
    • Free Resources
  • Campaigns
    • Pollinator Project
    • Coill na nOg
    • Space for Nature
  • School Gardens
  • Contact
  • Partner
    • Businesses
    • Local Authorities

​School GardenS

We are Ireland's largest outdoor learning provider

Why us?

Thinking of a school garden? You've come to the right place.

We're the largest outdoor learning provider in Ireland. 

We provide absolutely everything from seeds & soil to greenhouses & woodlands.
 
We're the school garden experts & make the process as simple as possible for you.

​How we CAN help

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Designs & Packages

We can design & deliver everything from outdoor classrooms to mini-woodlands.

​
More Info
Each day, the average young person spends...
MINUTES ON SCREENS
MINUTES IN NATURE

Why a school garden?

1) Natural, outdoor spaces boost young people's physical & mental wellbeing including:
  • Higher levels of happiness
  • Better attention
  • Less anxiety
  • More creativity
  • Higher levels of responsibility
  • Increased empathy
  • Creates a sense of wonder & awe
  • More physical exercise
  • Did you know that handling soil/ microbe releases serotonin in the brain which improves mood.
2) Time spent outdoors is the perfect solution to excessive screen time which is linked to:
  • ​Delayed learning
  • ​Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Sleep deprivation
  • Behavioural issues
  • Anxiety 
  • Social interaction problems
  • Did you know,  that such is the extreme levels of screen time, 50% of the world population is predicted to be myopic by 2050 (neartsightedness)... we’re changing the shape of our eyeballs!
3) Outdoor learning nurtures an eco-literate generation emotionally & technically capable of tackling the climate & biodiversity challenges.

Funding

There are lots of opportunities for funding available to support your project:
  • ​CLÁR Funding
  • Education for Sustainable Development
  • Deposit return scheme (container/receipt collection)
  • STEM Learning Grant
  • Healthy Ireland funding via your local county council
  • Per Cent for Art Scheme
  • ​Wind Energy Community Funds (see local supplier)
  • Standard school fundraisers 
  • Creative Schools
  • Nature Hero Awards
  • Discretionary funding from local county councillors
  • Parents' skills bank
  • Solar Farm Community Funds (see local supplier)
  • EirGrid Community Funds
  • Corporate sponsorship from nearby companies​
  • TidyTowns Groups
  • Intel Pride of Place Competition (Leixlip, Celbridge, Maynooth)
  • Drehid Grant Scheme (Kildare only)
  • Irish Youth Foundation (various funds)
  • Community Environment Action Fund
  • ​​Crowdfunding websites (such as GoFundMe)
  • Chat to your local county council Environmental Awareness Officer, Heritage Officer, Climate Officer or Biodiversity Officer.
  • ​Turn your school garden into a community garden (depending on site suitability; helps funding and upkeep over holidays)
  • Community Foundation Ireland
  • Change X
  • St. Patrick's Day Parade competitions for best displays/ floats.

school garden ideas

Here are some ideas of what to include in your garden:
- Outdoor classroom
- Pond
- Bird feeders
- Bird boxes
- Bug hotels
- Decaying materials
- Orchards
- Hedgehog house
- Murals
- Spring bulbs
​- Den building
​- Reading benches
​- Maze
​- Nature trail
​- Geodome

- Meadow
- Composter
​- Contemplation area
- Succession flowering

​- Mud kitchens
- Native trees
- Native hedgerows
​- Greenhouse/ Polytunnel
​- Gardening club
- Rainwater harvester
- Sensory Pathways
- Sound wall
- Compass
​- Tree trail
​- Outdoor blackboards

- Raised beds
- Sensory garden
- Wildflower areas
- Pollinator beds
- Night gardens
- Bird baths
- Bee banks
- Wormery
​- Bug door
- Willow dome
​- Music walls
- Wellbeing areas
​- Sundial
​- Outdoor wildlife signs
- Sheltered/ covered area

- Leaf pile
- Log piles
- Wild areas
- Herbs
- Fruit bushes
​- Deadhedge

- Bog garden
​- Fairy Garden
- Bat boxes
- Mini-woodland
- Hens
​- Water walls
- Wildlife Cameras

- Weather stations
- Bird hide
Green Bee
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