Goals:
Ann Davis (earth science teacher) sparked the idea of having a native plant garden installed in an unused courtyard space at Shamrock Middle School.  The goal was to change a drab space into a usable and inviting outdoor classroom.  With the help of UrbanWatch and Nearly Native Nursery, a plant palette and landscape plan was developed.  On a sunny Saturday in the fall of 2006, a handful of students, teachers, staff and two UrbanWatch educators gathered to remove the non-native ornamental plants from the courtyard and install over 30 different native plants.  After the planting, Mrs. Davis’s students did research on each plant species and were able to label them.  They also helped with aftercare involving watering and mulching the plants.  This space is now an outdoor classroom that is utilized by numerous teachers and their students.

Location:
Shamrock Middle School, DeKalb County Schools
3100 Mount Olive Drive, Decatur, GA 30033

Getting Started:
Eli Dickerson, UrbanWatch educator with Fernbank Museum of Natural History, provided guidance and a detailed native plant landscape plan.

Materials:
Native plants, shovels, hoes, labels/signs (optional), mulch

Project Cost:
FREE with UrbanWatch participation
-otherwise $200-$500 dollars to purchase tools and plants

Outcomes:
After nearly 2 years, most of these native species are still thriving despite the continued drought across most of the southeast.  The native plant garden is often used as a teaching space for new UrbanWatch classes as well.

If another teacher were going to duplicate this project how would they begin?
Contact someone who has experience with native plants, such as Fernbank Museum of Natural History (urbanwatch@fernbankmuseum.org) or the Georgia Native Plant Society, GNPS (www.gnps.org).  GNPS and Fernbank educators can refer you to local native plant vendors as well.

Your contact information:
UrbanWatch Atlanta
Fernbank Museum of Natural History
767 Clifton Rd. NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
(404) 929-6396
urbanwatch@fernbankmuseum.org

Shamrock Middle School
http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/~shamrock/