Schools to go organic

In 1996, the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA) launched a new campaign, Go Organic in the School Grounds. Although some schools have wildlife gardens, grounds' maintenance generally follows conventional practice. The aim of this project, sponsored by the Environmental Action Fund was to encourage schools to review their grounds' maintenance practices and to specify organic methods whenever possible. Maggie Brown of the project reports on the progress so far.

Children spend many hours in school grounds, playing and working. They come in close contact with grass, flowers, trees, shrubs and soil. They study wildlife and plants, they grow flowers and vegetables, they learn about 'the environment'. Organically managed grounds offer a perfect opportunity for them to learn about the value of a sustainable system.   

What is organic?
Where grounds are managed organically, green waste, autumn leaves and hedge clippings are all recycled. The resulting soil-improving composts and mulches help to grow healthy sturdy plants­-and money is saved in landfill dues.
    The use, or 'non-use', of herbicides is a major area of interest. There are no 'organic' herbicides, so weeds in borders, lawns, pitches and paths must be controlled in other ways. Options include mulching, hoeing, flaming, and hand digging. Creative thinking is essential.
    Wildlife is always welcome in school grounds as it is in any organic landscape where we rely heavily on natural control systems to keep pest levels in check. Habitats such as ponds and hedges are important, and where appropriate, plants are chosen for their value to wildlife as much as their appearance.

Involving schools 
The project needed to find 'pilot' schools willing to try out our ideas. Publicity in the educational and environmental press produced a flood of enquiries from schools eager to hear more. Many of them assumed we had funds available for them-we hadn't! Many more assumed that we would redesign their grounds for them-we wouldn't! What we offered was to look at what they had, and to advise on how best it could be managed using organic methods.
    Schools wanting to join the project completed a questionnaire to give us an idea of what they had, and why they should be chosen. With great difficulty, as there were many suitable applications, we chose 17 pilot schools, five more than originally planned. We have secondary, junior and infant schools, all over England (the area covered by the funding). Some have vast acres of field and garden, others just enough for games and some flower beds. The common denominator is that all want the best environment for their pupils, and feel that organic maintenance methods offer the ideal chance of achieving this.

The first step 
Our pilot schools' first task was to carry out an environmental audit of their grounds' maintenance practices. For some of them, this was quite a revelation. Grounds' maintenance often comes as a package from the local authority. Few teachers have the expertise, or the time, to analyse exactly what the package contains. Our schools discovered, many for the first time, which chemicals were being used, how green waste was dealt with, how borders were maintained, how often grass was cut-and how much each item cost! One school told us that just doing the audit made the project worthwhile. In several cases, answering our questions allowed simmering dissatisfaction with ground care to be voiced openly. 
    We discovered young trees that had been ringbarked and wrecked by strimmers. We discovered borders so heavily contaminated with residual herbicide that nothing would grow. We discovered rubbish, including plastic, being incinerated and causing pollution. We discovered routine use of herbicide to create a mowing edge, usually in areas where pupils were constantly playing.
    Although there were a few exceptions, the general picture was very poor, even allowing for funding problems in recent years for both schools and contractors. It seemed to us that ground care has become very traditional and rigid in its view of the 'correct' procedure. What was needed was a new view of the situation, and we aimed to provide it.

Changes begin
After analysing the environmental audits, and listing the possible areas for change, each school was visited. We needed to talk to the staff and pupils involved, and to see what the site looked like. These visits were exhilarating, as they clearly revealed how important the schools consider their grounds to be in the lives of the pupils. They really did want the best for the children, and they were prepared to make changes wherever they could.
    We were able to offer advice on the spot in many cases. In the school where rubbish was burned we suggested that food, green waste and some of the paper should be composted on site-they have plenty of space. Plastic could go in the council bin for collection, but cans and bottles should go to the recycling point. Although this rural school is a car ride away from such a point, it was agreed that this scheme would be better for the children's health, and for the whole valley which normally was polluted by the bonfire smoke. The school now has three compost heaps and a vegetable garden, growing organically of course.
    One school, on discovering the price of hedge cutting, found a better price (50% reduction!) elsewhere. They cut less frequently too which keeps berries in place overwinter for the birds. At our suggestion, they removed three rose beds from the contract, turning these into flower and vegetable borders for the pupils to work on. These small but significant changes have saved the school £400 per annum and provide healthy, educational activities for the children.
    Not every idea saves money. Several schools are keen to adopt our idea of growing ground cover plants under and around trees and shrubs. These areas are usually kept clear of grass with residual herbicide, leaving bare soil, covered with algae. Easy to 'maintain' perhaps, but full of herbicide residues and most unattractive. Ground cover plants would suppress weed and grass growth, yet still look good even if the edges are caught as the mower sweeps past. There is an initial cost, but once in place, these low maintenance plants remove the need for herbicide use and look infinitely more attractive.

The way forward 
Most of the pilot schools have already made significant changes to their grounds' management as a result of our suggestions, and there are plenty more projects in the planning stage.
    Organic systems aim to encourage balance and diversity in the garden. We have been able to recommend suitable plants for schools who had no idea what to choose for borders, awkward corners or, in particular, to cloak new security fences. High maintenance, herbicide sprayed rose beds have been superseded by low-tech butterfly borders. Hedges are being cut less often. Woody clippings remain on site to be composted. When shredded they make an excellent weed-suppressing mulch.
    Although this project has only begun to scratch the surface of organic grounds' maintenance, it is an important start. Schools and contractors have been encouraged to look at grounds' maintenance in a very different way. It is possible to provide a more pleasant environment for our children while they are in school. It is possible to manage school grounds in a more sustainable way, without using chemical controls or contributing to environmental problems. It will not necessarily cost more but it will require change. With the move away from the constraints of Compulsory Competitive Tendering, which local authorities were forced to adopt, towards a system of 'best value', practices based on ideas, trials and results from the 'Go Organic' project, would set the 'gold standards' of the future. Our children deserve no less.

Maggie Brown is a horticultural advisor at HDRA, Ryton Organic Gardens, Coventry, Warwickshire, CV8 3LG, UK.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 39, March 1998, page 10]