School Garden at Burbank Elementary

How to Get Your Green Project Started

Below is a road map for starting a garden/greening project at your school.  These projects can serve as community building exercises that can also help garner support for your school. 

Coordinate with School and School Community

Before you begin your project, it's important that you gain buy-in from your school and the school community: 

• Meet with school principal's office to get support/approval. 
• Determine the type of greening project you want to create.  Categories of educational gardens include: edible gardens, native habitat, reading gardens, and multi-use gardens.  
• Ask your principal who your Complex Project Manager (CPM) is or find your CPM here.  Your CPM is the person from the Local District in charge of the facilities at your school site.
• ​Develop your support network, including your project team, which should include the CPM and representatives from the school. Others to engage at this time include: faculty, Maintenance & Operations staff, parents, community members and students. This is an opportunity for input from others and to gain support for the project.
• As you develop and nurture your support network, initiate visits to other school gardens to gain an idea of what other schools have developed. 

Things to Keep in Mind

• Ask your CPM about any future construction on the school site to help ensure your project area will not be affected.
• LAUSD schools need to meet minimum acreage of play space (asphalt or field space), so small campuses may need to find areas to green that are not located in the play yard.
• Garden sites used as an educational space need to be accessible to students with limited mobility – for instance, raised beds shouldn’t all be placed on a surface that is not wheelchair accessible, such as mulch or wood chips.
• Soil sampling will be required when asphalt will be removed to build a garden.  Even if your selected project space consists of exposed dirt, it may still require soil sampling.  Work with you CPM to find out.
• If your project will require construction work (such as asphalt removal, installation of new irrigation, etc.), it will take longer to shepherd through the required review process.  Additionally, it will require much more coordination, to ensure District policies are followed.
• Shade structures cannot be installed at school sites unless they are approved through the Division of the State Architect’s office (DSA).  To avoid the time and money that it takes to gain DSA approval, consider planting fast growing trees from the District’s approved plant list.
• Maintenance of the new greening space will be the responsibility of the school site – not District M&O staff. Develop a plan for the ongoing success of your garden – clean up days, weeding, replenishing with new plants, etc. 

Consider the Environment

​Gardens and green spaces are great for the environment - for example: they provide shade, cooling, and humidity; they encourage infiltration of storm water; and they provide habitat.  Be sure to understand the existing environmental conditions on your campus and plant needs when developing location, design and planting plans for your garden. 

• Consider engaging a local environmental group to review the project in terms of groundwater conservation, storm water management, air quality improvement, and temperature reduction. 
• The Office of Environmental Health and Safety will need to determine if soil sampling is required for your project.  Depending on your design and intended use of the space, OEHS may determine other testing, such as geophysical testing or soil percolation tests may be required. 
• Have an understanding of the soils condition and select plants appropriately; remember healthy soil is the key to success.
• ​Detailed information regarding soil, sun, and water requirements, plant size, etc., for the District's Approved Plants may be found at PlantBookLA.

Using Your Garden as a Teaching Tool

:As you develop your plan, consider placement of your garden spaces to encourage their use as outdoor teacher areas.

• Work with teachers to find out how they would like to use the garden.
• Ask teachers to lead students in planning, site analysis and design.
• Think about focusing your garden around an instructional element such as science, nutrition, language arts, history, math, or art.
• Establish links to instruction to ensure that the garden is used and cared by the school community at large.

Developing Your Design

Before beginning the design process:

• Ask your CPM for copies of your school plot plan and irrigation plan.  
• Work with your Principal and CPM to ensure the size and location of your garden will not impact Education Code school physical education requirements.
• Depending on the scope and size of the project you may need to engage a landscape architect.  If you are unsure, contact your CPM to find out the best way to go about designing the project.  The District has a Landscape Architect on staff who can aid with the review of designs and whose design services are available.
• Consult the Community Initiated Projects Manual (Landscaping Section), specifically the District Review and Approval Phase and General Requirements.
• ​Consider pursuing a greening master plan for your campus. The greening master plan may provide multiple projects that can be incrementally implemented as funding is secured.  
• Consider implementing a smaller greening project to garner support, enthusiasm and commitment to help implement the larger projects you have in mind.​
• Work with your CPM to determine a cost estimate for your project and method of execution.

Funding and Resources

​​Once the scope, design, and budget estimates have been completed, evaluate how your school will help fund the project.  Develop a funding strategy. 

• Search for grants, volunteer labor and other resources. Some of this information is listed under our Funding/Resources tab.
• Before applying for a State funded grant, speak to your CPM in order to ensure the grant is reviewed by District staff – many grants have conditions and requirements that the District cannot agree to, which will require coordination with the State before a grant can be accepted.
• Check for funding and partner resources here and here.
• Leverage the school's donation account to hold any funding earmarked for the garden.
• You may also consider starting a non-profit or leveraging an existing non-profit to help support the efforts of your school garden.

Implementing Your Project

• Work with your Principal and CPM to fill out any required forms.  Your CPM will shepherd forms to gain required reviews and approvals.*
• Once you have funding available your CPM can advise on the best way to execute your project – For example:
  • Revamping of existing spaces could be completed with volunteer labor
  • Projects involving moderate construction – such as the installation of raised beds or benches could be completed with volunteers and some paid M&O work.
  • Intermediate construction work, including minimal installation of new irrigation systems or the installation of decomposed granite, will require either utilizing District M&O work or a District approved contractor. 
  • Large scale greening projects involve placing a project out to bid for a contractor to complete.​   
• For smaller projects or those that do not involve construction labor, maximize your workforce by leveraging local service agencies designated workdays such as Big Sunday, Mayor’s Day of Service, or other groups. Think about planning your groundbreaking to coincide with one of these service days. 

Strategies for Sustainability

How will you ensure the longevity of the project?  Remember there are many resources available to help develop a garden including volunteer labor.​​

• Once you have the design in place and the required approvals and are ‘shovel ready,’ organize a workday to get things going. Your volunteer community is one of your most valuable resources. 
• Consider the maintenance plan for your project.  Consider implementing monthly community service days, establish a volunteer calendar or work with local garden groups to support the maintenance of the garden.
• The sustainability of a project is also dependent on the support of the school's teaching staff and the engagement of the students.
• Celebrate the completion of your garden! Invite your local administration, school board member, local representatives and support network to a grand opening.
• Document, document, document! Keep track of your process, meetings and deliverables. Take photos of your projects before, during and after construction. This will help keep you organized and may be a helpful resource to someone trying to create a similar project elsewhere. 
• Share what you have learned with another school in your community.  Send us your photos for this website!