Hyde Park Elementary Garden Is Set to Bloom

By Robin Gee, HPL Editor

As spring unfolds, a special school and community project is blossoming at Hyde Park School. After a year of planning, design and prep work the Hyde Park School Garden is taking shape on a long patch of school property in the corner opposite the main intersection of Edwards Road and Observatory Avenue.

An idea first discussed by teachers at the school, the garden project took off last year once a group of parent volunteers from the school’s PTO decided to take it on and develop a plan. It was a busy time. The school had just gone through a major renovation that included an annex and a new gym on the property.

“There were changes to the school’s footprint that were planned and in progress,” said Michael Murrison. “What came out of that was a pretty lonely, neglected strip of land back in the corner away from the streets.” 

Murrison and his wife, Liza, are parents of three boys. The older two are students at the school, and their youngest will start kindergarten there next year. They led the effort to take the garden idea to the next level.

“We were looking for a way to support the community, the school and all the students and educators that are there, because it’s such a great community and such an active caring community. And so we were thinking, hey, what if we put together a garden space and outdoor learning environment?”

While the school did sometimes hire buses to take students to area farms and green spaces, having an outdoor space right on the school campus would offer great exposure, he said.

“This is right there, literally in our backyard. We thought we could really invigorate that space and invest in it. So we raised the idea to the PTO, and they said we should talk to these teachers, because they had started working on this, at least in terms of a concept.”

The Murrisons reached out and connected with one of the teachers, Kate Fischer, whose sixth grade students had been looking for the right project for their end-of-the-year class gift to the school. She helped coordinate a discovery session with the students to find out what they thought about the project. The garden would be on school property and serve its educational purpose, but it would also be open to community members as a public space.

A group  of six to eight PTO members formed a group to work on the project. Over the school year, the volunteers, teachers and students gathered input and did research. Murrison said he was impressed by the students’ passion and motivation for the project. The students researched a number of features for the garden and looked into accessibility and things like ADA compliance for public spaces. They also tapped their science and math skills to determine how many plants could be supported in the space and even did sunlight studies to decide what to plant.

The students helped gather community input by presenting their ideas at both the Hyde Park and Oakley community councils.

Fundraising and preparations

All involved agreed they wanted a space that would facilitate learning and be a relaxing and enjoyable space for the students and the entire school community. They also wanted make the garden as accessible as possible to the entire community and inviting for people of all ages and abilities. 

Teachers and staff brought up practical concerns such finding ways to ensure mud from the garden wasn’t tracked through the school hallways and that space was provided for maintenance equipment and tools. 

Accessible and ADA compliant surfaces and walkways, water access, structures to store equipment, benches and seating areas, not to mention plants and trees, can be costly, so one of the next early tasks was fundraising. The group set a goal of raising $100,000 to cover creation of the garden but also a robust maintenance plan for its upkeep.

Donations are ongoing. Parents, community members and local businesses have contributed, some providing matching grants. The garden group is offering opportunities to sponsor and name areas of the garden, and donors can purchase named bricks for the walkways. 

Wimberg Landscaping stepped in with an invaluable in-kind donation of garden design and direction to help bring the students’ and community’s ideas into focus. Garden designer Sarah Geiger-Behm developed the garden plan and helped with plant selection. 

Bartlett Tree Care provided four fruit trees and agreed to maintain them. The trees were selected to bear fruit that can be harvested and eaten by the students. The company’s maintenance would ensure the fruit was organic and safe. 

Features of the garden

Work began to make the garden dream a reality this fall. Students from the sixth grade class planted the first tree in the garden’s orchard. It was their class gift to the school. In addition to the orchard, the garden includes a wide variety of features and different types of gardens and plants.

Included is a pollinator garden designed to attract bees and butterflies into the space. A sensory garden will provide a quiet peaceful spot that engages all five senses — taste, touch, small, sound and sight. The native garden gallery will introduce students to native plants and how they fit into the ecosystem. 

The garden can accommodate entire classes to work and learn outside in the garden with work stations and seating areas. A covered seating area will be available for students, staff and community members to gather. The heart of the garden are the raised beds that allow for a wide variety of crop plants including peppers, tomatoes, lettuce. It will be flanked by storage benches that double as extra seating. The site includes a composting section and a place for leaves to break down and used in the garden. 

Two willow trees will be installed to allow students to learn pruning skills and provide materials for nature crafts. The pollinator garden, sensory garden and native gardens line a walkway beyond the garden beds. 

The garden is designed for learning about plants and gardening, but it also offers opportunities for students to learn science, history, math and other subjects. 

Nature’s added benefits

Murrison said what he and his wife and many other parents have learned is that sometimes, when their kids have had a tough day, just getting outside can help them unwind, relax and refocus.

“People can have big feelings…Fresh air and a job in the dirt is something that has always been a light switch in many cases, where the kids just stay activated different ways,” he said.

Teachers have related similar stories. Some said they can tell when a child has maybe had a rough night or a bad day. Having an outdoor space can help as a behavioral support tool. Getting them outdoors and into a different and calming environment, can really help, they said.

“To connect students with the natural world, all the things they can learn just by being in those spaces and being a part of their environment is so important. That’s really where our passion came from,” said Murrison. “We know that this helps our kids. They just really enjoy being in those outdoor spaces.”

He said he knows the Cincinnati Public School system is well aware of the benefits these outdoor spaces provide and has been working to include them at schools across the city. 

“If we can help that, and reach all these kids and help these educators in some way, we are all in on that…We realized that there were a lot of people who had the same thought, maybe just didn’t have the space. And so we thought, hey, this is a way we can really help our community, help the school…Bringing people together in shared spaces and interacting with folks they might not otherwise interact with is so important.”

The garden taking shape

At press time, the garden was just about ready for planning season. Over the fall and winter, the ADA compliant surfaces were installed and work on the raised beds, work tables and outdoor classroom space had begun. 

The students, parents, staff and community members will have a busy spring planting the garden. Volunteers and donors are still needed and appreciated. For more on the project, see the garden page on the Hyde Park School PTO website at hydeparkschoolpto.org/garden. While there, take a look at a video showing what the final project will look like.