Basket willows, easy to grow and fantastic for arts and crafts materials. We are encouraging schools to look to cultivating natural materials for use in school in all sorts of different ways 

Here's a living willow arch by sculptor and weaver Steve Pickup. We are currently planning for a 6m tunnel, for Whitley park school in October to a similar design and we will be working with Steve on the project. 

Here's a view of GF junior's garden, and playing fields. The idea is to create a sensory garden, rich with herbs, fruits and vines. It is a more private space, perhaps to contemplate, to hide away, to reconnect with nature. The sundial and compass make us think about where we are, our place in the world, and where we are going perhaps? The fruiting trees shrubs and vines as well as beds of lavender and sages, to be planted in the autumn, evoking the senses and places both distant and familiar.
We hope to be able to offer an official opening of some of the school gardens in the following spring. 

We had lots of enthusiastic help from the John Lewis crew, so a big thanks to Wayne and Joanne and the crew for all their hard work. Got rained out on the Saturday afternoon, after a blisteringly hot day, but all credit to them they stayed and finished the archways. 

The John Lewis Crew 

The garden at Geoffrey Field Junior school.. the pond - i.e. the hole in the foreground, is not complete yet - we ran out of time to do it this term. Also, in the end it seemed wiser to leave it til September when it is cooler and hopefully there isn't a hose pipe ban any longer! The hexagonal bench will also be a compass point and a sundial. I am wondering at the moment that it might be best to get some of the pupils to calibrate the clock, i have been trying to work it out myself all week, then it struck me what a good exercise it could be potentially.  

well i am a bit excited as a producer from BBC gardeners world, the prestigeous TV program is coming to see us about one of the gardens we are involved with; the Roof garden in Reading. They seem to be interested in the water efficiency, rainwater harvesting slant and it will be interesting to talk to them. I am convinced there is a really worth while prject to be had, monitoring how much rain water it can absorb, and how much of that we can use in the building. Flood water surges are an increasing problem in built up areas, for precisely that reason, everything is built up so storm water cant soak into the ground. This is an important function for roof gardens. Hopefully it will give us a chance to talk about some of our other work, namely the Aspire schools in Whitley.

Here are the completed beds at Blagdon nursery. Once the straw has become fully wet from teh rain (well we had a little anyway) we complete by covering over with cardboard and woodchip, by next sping when teh plants will all shoot up most of the straw and compost will have rotted down, leaving healthy open soils for the new plants. After so many years a school yard the heavy clay soils here are brick hard and mulch will feed it up and blanket out any weeds and grasses that were there before 

Here is the circluar bed from the same set as below. It is made from recycled bricks that the school a saved from part of their original school building, for re-use in just such a project. It will hold a mulberry bush - round and round.. etc. 

This pentagonal raised bed will be home to a pear tree and a suitable guild of supporting underplanted plants, like comfrey. It is part of a set of geometric shapes, circles and triangles we have used in the sensory garden at Geoffrey Field nursery 

Here is apprentice gardener Dawn in action at new Christchurch school. She is drilling into an oak sleeper so it can be fixed into the ground. We love working with chunky bits of green oak, its really durable and gives an elemental feel to the overall garden design. 

Volunteers in action - more help from Thames Water, wo are keen supporters of Whitley park school. We are planning to work with people from John Lewis next week. We have really enjoyed the work with volunteers so far and I think they have all found it a rewarding experience as well. Thanks guys! 

This is the slate sundial at the Halo foods factory in Tywyn, it inspired Steve to propose that we build a sundial feature (from oak sleepers) at Geoffrey Field junior school. We are working there later in July so watch this space for progress! 

Dave's fan club! The children at Whitley park have been fascinated by the whole process of building the garden and there have been all sorts of opportunites to engage with them during its construction. align='absmiddle'>

Volunteers from Thames water help build the 'pizza' bed at Whitley park infants. It is shaped like a pizza with a slice cut out and we plan to plant it up with oregano and marjoram as well as perennial onions and other suitable pizza toppings 

Inspecting an ants nest we discovered underneath the paving slabs at Blagdon nursery school