Including natural materials, especially plants, in the schoolyard is a way to expose and connect children to the natural world during the school day. A living schoolyard filled with boulders and tree parts, sand and water, and plants of all kinds may comprise the whole campus or just one tiny corner. A school may have a designated edible garden — with raised beds, garden curriculum, and a community of garden stewards. As we develop temporary-during-the-pandemic and long-term outdoor classrooms, we want to provide enriching, comfortable, and safe places for students. We may want to create greener living grounds that are embraced by our school districts, principals, teachers, and community in the years to come. This article will address the importance of schoolyard vegetation for all types of learning and play, as well as selecting child-appropriate plants.

Plants play an important role in enriching students’ lives. Engaging with plants and the natural world activates all of our senses — smelling fresh herbs, tasting sun-ripened blueberries, feeling soft leaves, hearing the “whoosh” of native grasses in the wind, and observing in wonder how a bee pollinates a flower. Tending and watching a living schoolyard grow teaches valuable lessons about ecology, responsibility, and resiliency.

Research tells us that exposure to plants has many benefits for our mental and physical health as well as our social and cognitive development. (See the “Health Benefits of Being Outdoors” section of Health Guidance.) Studies show that just seeing “views [of] green landscapes have significant, positive impacts on recovery from stress and mental fatigue” (Li and Sullivan, 2016). Some studies also show that people unconsciously prefer spaces with vegetation and greenery. These studies suggest that this is perhaps due to the restorative qualities of being in nature (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; Kelz, Evans, & Röderer, 2015).

Plants can be used to define spaces and create a sense of enclosure that appeals to children. A low shade tree can offer a child-scaled sense of protection, in addition to cooling shade and a respite from harsh sunlight. A quiet nook surrounded by soft shrubs or ornamental grasses can be a calming space for children and adults alike. Spaces created and defined by plants can encourage wonder, awe, and curiosity. An allee of deciduous trees may invite a walk through the wonders of the changing seasons. A willow tunnel sparks imaginative play and exploration. Berry vines growing over a fence or trellis with edible berries becomes a delicious haven.

Child-friendly plantings can happen throughout a school campus and can include a designated edible garden. Where schoolyards are mostly paved and planting spaces are limited, raised beds and constructed berms can bring plants close to children. Avoid using chemicals of any kind in or around children’s gardens. To see more on school gardens, please see our articles about school gardens: School Gardens — Getting Started and School Gardens — Design and Teaching.

All children deserve these experiences! See more in Inclusive Design for Outdoor Spaces.

Fragrance

Our sense of smell plays an important role in memory — select plants that offer interesting and soothing smells that will help create positive associations with learning. Picking a fragrant leaf, crushing it between the palms, and smelling it is soothing. Consider easy-to-grow herbs in pots or planting beds like thyme, mint, dwarf chamomile, and oregano. Lavender, sages/salvia, and rosemary do well in planting beds, are easy to maintain once established, and smell wonderful when warmed by the sun. Line walkways or place near windows plants with distinct, pleasant-scented flowers like gardenia, lilac, and jasmine. 

Some students may be more sensitive to certain plant smells and pollen. For more on allergies, see Reducing Outdoor Allergens.

Texture

Children love to touch things! Include plants that are safe to touch and that children can be encouraged to feel, such as soft lambs ears and fluffy Mexican feather grass. Consider the variety of tactile experiences that tree barks offer, like the smooth bark of beech or willow or the chunky, thick bark of firs and oaks. Consider sturdier and durable plants, but avoid plants with dangerous thorns or sharp edges.

Sound and Wind

Dry seed pods make fun shakers, so choose plants that produce these, such as peas or Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia). Dry seeds from any plant can also be placed in covered cups and shaken. Native grasses that rustle in the wind create a calming backdrop to class outside and create visual interest as well. 

Taste

Consider beginning a mini food forest with potted berry-producing shrubs like blueberries and huckleberries or a snacking garden that includes treats like snap peas or cherry tomatoes. Edible flowers like nasturtium, borage, and redbud blossoms can be picked and sprinkled on salads or special treats. Dedicated edible gardens provide a host of tasting opportunities through harvesting of vegetables and cooking in the garden. Investigate what native plants the local Indigenous and First Nations communities in your area use for food; some groups offer schools lessons on traditional foods and preparation. 

Note: If you are not sure if something is edible, do not guess! Consult a garden professional or master gardener. Remember to keep in mind any food issues your students may have, including kosher diets, allergies, or special preparation traditions.

See more about vegetable gardens, orchards, and growing food at school in School Gardens — Getting Started and School Gardens — Design and Teaching.

Sight

Consider including plants that offer visual interest. Plantings can visually draw us in and calm us, lower our stress, and bring joy. Smaller, low-growing or prostrate plants add texture to the ground and taller trees and shrubs add a vertical element to the space. A few paving stones can create an inviting path to walk and observe planted areas without trampling. 

Planting wildflower seed mixes is an inexpensive way to add color and habitat for birds and pollinators.  Native plants are adapted to local conditions and should thrive in local soil. Ask your nursery about regional plant palettes that offer year-round color.

Viewing from inside. Strategic placement of trees and gardens so they can be viewed from classroom windows has a huge impact. Views of trees from within classrooms improve health, focus, and productivity (Li and Sullivan, 2006).

Learn through the seasons. Plants that are native to your region may have ecological and cultural importance. These plants can help students learn about traditions and feel connected to the earth and seasonal changes. 

Consider a plant palette that includes plants that blossom or have interesting foliage throughout the year. Allow fallen leaves and blossoms to remain on the ground to nourish the soil. 

Consider plants that students can harvest seeds from for the next planting season.

Include ephemeral plants. Ephemeral plants grow, bloom, and die back. Consider bulbs like irises or tulips planted by students in spirals, rows, or heart shapes. Plant in fall for spring surprises. Try a wildflower bed with California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), lupine (Lupinus), coneflower (Echinacea). These are annuals that act like perennials: they bloom and then re-seed the soil, growing up again. Line a frequently visited walkway with wildflower beds that offer a burst of seasonal color. Explore the exciting variety of wildflowers that are native to your region.

Healthy ecosystems welcome and encourage wildlife and pollinators. The presence of these critters offers interesting science and ecology lessons while helping students develop a personal relationship with nature. Pollinators, particularly butterflies, will visit plants that are in full sun; have a warm rock or two for people and pollinators to land on nearby.  Learn more about the importance of native plants to the health of humans and the planet from entomologist and native plant expert Doug Tallamy.

Whenever possible, select native plants for your area and provide a good diversity of plants to promote healthy habitat for a wide range of insects, especially pollinators. Some schoolyard favorites are milkweeds (Asclepias species), redbuds (Cercis species), and sages (Salvia species), which hummingbirds love. Lavenders (Lavandula species), though nonnative, may attract a lot of bees.

Avoid using chemicals of any kind in or around pollinator gardens.

Plants provide critical services to schools and are the practical solution to many issues, such as shade and screening. They are often lower cost and more beautiful than many built solutions, such as shade structures or fences. 

SHADE and Trees

Trees are important to consider when planning for long-term shade on school grounds. Medium to large trees offer shade that cools the school ground and paved surfaces, reducing heat island effect. Trees can reduce UVB exposure by about 50 percent, according to TreePeople.

Consider that the area around the base of any trees will be a popular place for children to spend time and may lead to soil compaction; consult an arborist for guidance on keeping trees and their roots healthy in high-traffic schoolyards.

Many trees and shrubs can be part of school-wide stewardship projects where the school community — including kids — plant the trees.

See Shade and Shelter for more on evaluating shade provided by existing tree canopies.

Screening and Spacing

Screening helps reduce visual and noise distractions such as other students or the sound of a busy street, as well as offering some protection from wind. Temporary or permanent plant spacers can help designate outdoor learning areas or classrooms. There are many options for plants that can become screens. Some good plants include clumping bamboo (Bamboo species, in a container only), Pacific wax myrtle (Myrica californica), and Victorian box (Pittosporum undulatum).  

Vines, vines, vines!

Structures such as wire mesh frames can be planted with vines. Perennial and evergreen vines such as clematis, jasmine, and honeysuckle are great for more permanent locations. Annual vines, such as scarlet runner bean, birdhouse gourds, mini pumpkins, passion vine, and lemon cucumber, grow very fast and have flowers, fruits, and beans to use as part of the curriculum. 

Use plants like willows or blueberries to make living structures or tunnels! 

Check the Regional Plant Lists for what is appropriate for your region.

There are many ways planted containers can be used in temporary outdoor classrooms while a school is planning and designing capital improvements for the long term (permanent outdoor learning spaces, green infrastructure projects such as planting after asphalt removal, and so on). 

Enhance the present. A few planters can enhance a temporary learning space consisting of a shade canopy, stumps or buckets for seating, and a whiteboard. Teachers may find that the addition of a screen of vegetation not only reduces noise and visual distractions, but may also result in calmer students and make for a more pleasant learning space. 

See and plan for the future. Temporary placement of plants, such as small, potted trees and shrubs, can help a school “see” what additional vegetation on campus could look like. This can inspire the school community to consider permanent planting or designing for more vegetation in the future. What solutions can be used today, and used or repurposed for the long term? Consider which temporary plant solutions might warrant a larger investment, such as heavy, metal trough planters. Set them up on pallets so they can be more easily moved to a permanent home in the future. 

School Community

Before any planting commences, check with the district leadership and your principal for approval. Coordinate with school facilities departments and their maintenance staff so that gardens are not mowed down or removed. 

Contact school district facilities or purchasing to confirm if bulk orders can provide a cost savings across multiple schools. 

Plant and Landscape Professionals

Contact local landscape organizations, nurseries, and government environmental stormwater, soil and water, and sustainability agencies for support, funding, and information. Contact local garden designers, Master Gardeners, or landscape architects for plants that work for your specific site and its soil type, sun/shade requirements, water requirements, and so on.

When selecting plants, discuss your project with your local nursery or native plants group. They are often very knowledgeable about regionally appropriate plants.

Volunteers

Local service and community groups may be available as volunteers to move and arrange plants and other related materials. Tap into your community by reaching out to scouts, local business community service teams, and others.

Contact your local high schools for partnership and mentoring opportunities for students. Many high schools require community service that could include garden stewardship activities, such as weeding, planting, and watering. High school students in Career, Technology and Education (CTE) programs may be able to support gardens with their semester projects, such as building raised garden boxes, adding habitat structures, and mentoring to younger students. For high schools with greenhouses, mentors could grow plants specifically for elementary or middle school gardens.

Bucklin-Sporer, Arden and Pringle, Rachel Kathleen. (2010). How to Grow a School Garden: A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers. Timber Press.

Plant and Education Resources
— The Edible Schoolyard

International Schoolground Month Activity Guide
— Green Schoolyards America, 2018

The Power and Potential of Green Schoolyards (PDF)
— Green Schoolyards America, February 7, 2014

Worst Plants for Schoolyards/The Most Allergenic Plants Commonly Found in Schoolyards
— Healthy Schoolyards

Sensory Garden Growing Guide
— Kids Gardening

Native Plant Database
— Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

School Garden Resources
— Life Lab

Welcoming Butterflies to Our Gardens
— Log House Plants
Native butterfly identification keys and specific host/food plants, and butterfly habitat garden ideas

Plant Database
— Playcore

Pollinator resources including education tools and regional plant lists
— Pollinator Partnership

22 Benefits of Trees
— Tree People

Everything Your Plant Hardiness Zone Can Tell You About Planning & Caring for Trees
— Tree Triage, October, 2021

Turner, N. J., & and Szczawinski, A. F. (1991). Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms of North America. Timber Press.

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones
— United States Department of Agriculture

Water Use Classification of Landscape Species (WUCOLS IV)
— University of California, Davis, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Pollinator Plant Lists
— Xerces Society