There is always something to discover in a garden

Learning About Learning Gardens
Creating An Experience For The Human Soul
by Holly Mawby, gardendwellers Farm

I’m not sure when I first understood that plants are great teachers. Maybe it was when I was small and the crocus’ in the fields where the cattle grazed were blooming and I new that spring had really arrived. Maybe it was when I first started working in a large greenhouse and the temporary help that was hired would look to me to learn the names and care of the annuals and perennials we sold. Or maybe it was when I finally became a horticulture teacher and saw that no matter what my students’ backgrounds, there was always something to be learned from the plant kingdom.

However I came to it, I know that gardens and plants are great teachers. My husband Barry and I own a learning garden in Churchs Ferry, North Dakota, called gardendwellers Farm. Here, people come from all over to learn about gardening, plants, herbs, and their uses. Teaching people about plants is our passion. We spend many days and sometimes long into the night preparing our gardens so visitors will always learn something. Due to the variety of visitors we have, we must provide an assortment of learning experiences. gardendwellers Farm has been carefully planned as a living outdoor lab of sorts, a pattern that could be followed by anyone wishing to set up a learning garden and most of which was ‘borrowed’ from other learning gardens we have visited.

	Herbs are an easily recognized garden theme

Grouping Gardens By Themes

We began by planning display beds that could be used in our classes. To do this, we found that it was best to choose ‘themes’ for each bed. We have a fenced in area set aside specifically for these theme beds. There are 10 different sections, each one pertaining to a different theme. There are beds to attract birds and butterflies, a bed with children’s plants, a bible garden, two night gardens, a cut flower garden, a grandma’s garden, and several others. By keeping plants used for specific classes together, it allows us to teach a group without prancing around the whole farm to find this or that. It also allows us to provide brochures and plant lists so visitors can learn on their own in a self-guided tour.

It isn’t difficult to find plants that will grow well together and fit a theme; there are lists in books, on the internet, and other horticulturists will help you to select suitable specimens. We’ve found that the hardest part is not overfilling the beds. Like most gardeners, we always see another plant at the nursery that we just must have and bring it home for that special spot. Luckily we also have other display beds at the farm for just such items.

Hypertuffa, anyone?

One great thing about gardening is that you will never run out of people who want to learn or things to teach them. Each year the Garden Media Group puts out a list of what’s hot and what’s not in gardens. Web sites from other companies like ours post lists of classes they are teaching and magazines give clues to the new ideas in horticulture. Many of our class topics are taken from these sources. In this way we can bring the latest and greatest to our visitors.

Gardens are also surprisingly versatile. Last year we had groups of quilters learning to ‘flower pound’ on fabric for quilt squares, gardeners learning to make hypertuffa pots for their flowers, cooks wanting to learn how to cook with fresh herbs, home decorators making herbal and floral wreaths, and children learning about plant processes. I have also used plants to teach history, geography, sociology, biology, and farming practices. We even had over 80 people join us to learn about rhubarb, that great ‘pie plant’, on Father’s Day. You will never run out of things to learn in an adaptable learning garden.

Different Interests For Different Folks

Good learning gardens have several things in common. First, you should consider a variety of experiences for people of all interests. Just because it is a garden doesn’t mean everyone who visits will be a gardener. Include plants with uses visitors can relate to. Plants that produce food, fabric, dyes, wood, and medicine are all easy to find. All plants have a heritage, be it native to the area or as an immigrant from a far away land. People interested in history or culture love to hear about things from other countries.

Use plants as art. Architects, artists, and designers all draw inspiration from gardens. Even plumbers have something to learn from trees, the worlds largest natural pump house, and a potato clock or solar fountain will bring a smile to that electrician’s face! Be creative, and plants can be the basis for almost any educational subject.

The next thing a good learning garden needs is planning. We plan our garden early each spring so that it will provide all the raw materials to teach our classes. We start of course with the herbs for herbal cooking and personal care classes, flowers for flower arranging and craft classes, new and unusual varieties for the experienced gardeners to see and feel, bird feeding stations and plants for the nature lovers, and broom corn sorghum and Sweet Annie artemesia for decorative fall swags and wreaths. With proper early planning, you will be sure to have enough plant material for each class you wish to offer throughout the year.

	Picnic tables double as great work benches

Next, learning gardens should have ample work places and multiple access points. Picnic tables can be used for more than just picnics, and garden benches are great places for audiences to sit as teachers explain lessons. Be sure to plan for enough seating and workspace for a typical size of audience. Learning gardens that host large groups may want to consider amphitheatre-type bench seating, whereas self-guided learning experiences would only require small tables.

Places for storage of teaching supplies should be considered and should be in close proximity to the workspace. Covered shelters are an asset as Mother Nature doesn’t always provide sunny days according to class schedules. Design your learning garden to be accessible from multiple points to eliminate congestions on busy days and to allow for visitors who may not be part of a class but arrive during a lesson anyway.

Don't Forget About Safety

Lastly, because learning gardens are great places for people of all ages, care must be taken to provide not only for the education of visitors but also for their safety. Although we tell our guests that “We are a farm. We have gophers and gopher holes, uneven terrain, a few garter snakes, and yes, even a few weeds,” we are still very careful to walk the gardens daily and look for any obstacle that might cause injury. Broken trees were a concern last year after 80 mile per hour straight line winds hit us early in the season creating ‘widow-makers’ in the utmost tops of the trees. Small animals create ankle twisting holes today that weren’t there yesterday and the depth and width of the pond was a carefully chosen as a kid-friendly consideration. Visitor safety must be attended to daily in a learning garden because just as the plants grow and change, so do the obstacles.

Even a class for ‘flower pounding’!

Gardens are Mother Nature’s perfect schoolhouse. Growing plants and flowers provide an endless stream of classroom supplies. Properly planned learning gardens with a variety of experiences and safe workspaces are a great way to unite a community and provide family entertainment opportunities. I believe there is always something a person can learn or teach in a garden. Although I am often seen as the teacher of garden topics, what our visitors do not realize is that I am always the student, learning just as they are about something new each day at gardendwellers Farm.

Holly Mawby has a degree in Horticulture and Landscape Design from the University of Minnesota, Waseca. She has been actively employed in the field of Horticulture for 27 years. In that time Holly has worked in all aspects of the horticulture field, from Floral and Landscape Design to Landscape Maintenance, Sales, and Propagation. Holly received her Minnesota Vocational Teaching license and worked for 7 years as a Horticulture teacher in southern Minnesota. Holly is currently co-owner along with her husband Barry of gardendwellers Farm located in Churchs Ferry ND. gardendwellers Farm is a unique blend of public gardens, educational programs, therapy and healing gardens, and production of specialty crops.

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