Wildlife Garden

Féach cé a tháinig go dtí ár ngáirdín – na síogaí! Rinne siad tithe beaga. Tá siad i bhfolach i ngach áit! An féidir leat an bád a fháil? Look who moved into our garden – the fairies! They made little houses. They are hidden everywhere! Can you find the fairy boat?

We have introduced bamboos to the patio area where the Infants classes play. After the adults planted the bamboos, the children helped plant spring bulbs.

We have a Wildlife Garden at our school. We made our garden to attract wildlife to our school grounds. We have lots of different habitats and vegetable plots in our garden. We plant some potatoes, peas and corn in our plots. The garden is surrounded by a native hedgerow. We collect stamps for “Save the Bogs” campaign. We send them to the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.

Habitats

A Butterfly and Bee Patch: This habitat is planted with nectar plants to attract butterflies and bees.

A Mini Wood: We planted a mini deciduous wood. A deciduous wood has four layers.

• The Canopy Layer
• The Shrub Layer
• The Field Layer
• The Ground Layer

There are birch trees for the canopy layer; hazel and holly in the shrub layer; bluebells, foxgloves and primroses in the field layer and rotting leaves and insects on the ground layer.

A Log Pile: We have a pile of rotting logs as a habitat for insects and fungi. Frogs from our pond like to hide in the log pile.

A Wet Area: We have a pond as a habitat for animals and plants. There is a small marsh beside the pond. The pond overflows into a little bog.

Compost Heap: We put all the organic waste, such as apple cores, banana and orange skins, pencil shavings, tea bags, grass and weeds in the compost bin. When the compost is fully rotted, we put it on the vegetable plots.

Leaf Mould: In autumn we collect leaves and put them in large bags. We wet them if they are dry. They are broken down, by insects, into compost. We are saving our bogs by using our own compost instead of buying compost.