School Garden 19th February 2004 Dig

7th May 2004

The weeds are taking over...

We've had a lot of rain recently, which hasn't been great for us but has been brilliant for the garden. Everything is growing really fast now. But this also means that the weeds are growing really fast too, so we have to work hard to keep them away. A lot of weeds in our garden would grow into nice flowering plants if we left them there, such as the giant poppies you can see in this picture. After all, a weed is only a plant growing where we don't want it too.

One flower - many seeds

Weeds are very good at making a huge number of seeds and then spreading them everywhere. Not all of the seeds will be able to grow into plants. But as a weed makes so many seeds, there will still be a huge number of seeds that will grow into new plants. They will make a lot of work for us! Seeds can be spread in different ways: some are spread by animals (either by the animals eating them and then going to the loo in a different place, or by the seeds getting stuck in their fur); some are spread by the plants dropping them or pinging them away from them and others can be spread by the wind. Dandelion seeds are very good at 'flying'. Each seed has it's own parachute, which catches in the wind and lifts them high and far away to another place.

Trowels at the ready...

A group of gardeners were each given a trowel and told to get out as many of the weeds as they could. We made sure that everyone understood which plants were the weeds and which plants were the ones we wanted there. As there were so many poppy seedlings, it was easy to spot which plants were to be taken out.

Our hard work

The group of gardeners worked hard and a little while later, this is what the weedy patch looked like. There is hardly a weed to be seen! This patch is now ready to be planted with more vegetables.

A weed or not a weed?

As we've already said, weeds are only plants growing where we don't want them too. Some parents at school heard that we were digging up lots of poppy plants and asked if they could have some. We were happy to do this as it would be a shame to throw them away, especially when we know that they can brighten up somebody else's garden. These plants are ready to be taken.

Another visitor

We must always remember that some plants we call weeds can in fact be very important for wildlife. Some insects need some weeds to survive. Also, they may eat the weeds instead of eating our vegetables and flowers! This male Small White butterfly likes cabbages, but there are many weeds it could eat instead.

Our Adventurous Hippo

The Mini-Garden Hippo was very happy with the work we did and he wanted to have a good look at it. As the Spinach is now flowering and stands very tall in the garden, this seemed like a good plant to climb. Not only this, rumour has it that he has found out that lots of people have spotted him in the 'Hunt the Hippo' competition, and so he is aslo looking for a new place to hide.

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7th May 2004
		The weeds are taking over... We've had a lot of rain recently, which hasn't been great for us but has been brilliant for the garden. Everything is growing really fast now. But this also means that the weeds are growing really fast too, so we have to work hard to keep them away. A lot of weeds in our garden would grow into nice flowering plants if we left them there, such as the giant poppies you can see in this picture. After all, a weed is only a plant growing where we don't want it too.



One flower - many seeds Weeds are very good at making a huge number of seeds and then spreading them everywhere. Not all of the seeds will be able to grow into plants. But as a weed makes so many seeds, there will still be a huge number of seeds that will grow into new plants. They will make a lot of work for us! Seeds can be spread in different ways: some are spread by animals (either by the animals eating them and then going to the loo in a different place, or by the seeds getting stuck in their fur); some are spread by the plants dropping them or pinging them away from them and others can be spread by the wind. Dandelion seeds are very good at 'flying'. Each seed has it's own parachute, which catches in the wind and lifts them high and far away to another place.

Trowels at the ready... A group of gardeners were each given a trowel and told to get out as many of the weeds as they could. We made sure that everyone understood which plants were the weeds and which plants were the ones we wanted there. As there were so many poppy seedlings, it was easy to spot which plants were to be taken out.

		Our hard work The group of gardeners worked hard and a little while later, this is what the weedy patch looked like. There is hardly a weed to be seen! This patch is now ready to be planted with more vegetables.

A weed or not a weed? As we've already said, weeds are only plants growing where we don't want them too. Some parents at school heard that we were digging up lots of poppy plants and asked if they could have some. We were happy to do this as it would be a shame to throw them away, especially when we know that they can brighten up somebody else's garden. These plants are ready to be taken.

		Another visitor We must always remember that some plants we call weeds can in fact be very important for wildlife. Some insects need some weeds to survive. Also, they may eat the weeds instead of eating our vegetables and flowers! This male Small White butterfly likes cabbages, but there are many weeds it could eat instead.

Our Adventurous Hippo The Mini-Garden Hippo was very happy with the work we did and he wanted to have a good look at it. As the Spinach is now flowering and stands very tall in the garden, this seemed like a good plant to climb. Not only this, rumour has it that he has found out that lots of people have spotted him in the 'Hunt the Hippo' competition, and so he is aslo looking for a new place to hide.

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