Tentative plans for expansion of the lower rain garden

The lawn just to the right of the main entrance to Thoreau School is in bad shape.  It's about 20% bare soil, with many weeds plus several immense ant hills. It's unsightly, plus a health hazard as a source of dust. It's been this way for at least 10 years.

The lawn is unlikely to improve due to multiple stresses:

• High foot traffic
• Poor soil
• Dry summer conditions, no watering
• Nearly 100 % shade all day

Proposed remedy

By expanding the lower rain garden gradually, we can use plants that actually thrive in shade to replace the grass.

We will use native plants plants already proven to grow well in the two gardens on either side:

• Sprengel's sedge, Carex sprengelli.  This is an attractive, grass-like plant that grows in distinct clumps about 18" high.  It has attractive seed heads and the end of longish stems.  It provides food for native animals, especially birds migrating in the fall.  Plants will be sourced from the lawn (where it has self-seeded) and the other two rain gardens.

 

Thoreau's Gardens Help Improve Student Performance

Studies suggest a positive correlation between green spaces and improved student academic performance, particularly in public schools and urban areas, according to a systematic review by the Children & Nature Network. Research indicates that students attending schools with more greenness tend to have higher test scores in math and reading. Some studies also suggest a link between green space and reduced cognitive impairment, which could be attributed to the reduction of noise and air pollution associated with green areas. However, the exact mechanisms and the magnitude of these effects are still being investigated. 

Several studies have explored the relationship between green spaces and student academic performance. For example, a study by the Children & Nature Network examined multiple studies and found a positive correlation between greenness around schools and academic performance, particularly in public schools. A study in Santiago, Chile linked standardized test records of over 281,000 students in 1,498 schools with satellite data on surrounding vegetation, confirming that students at greener schools performed better in math and reading.

The above summary by AI (6/3/25).

Here are some specific studies:

Link to a National Academy of Sciences study: "Our study showed a beneficial association between exposure to green space and cognitive development among schoolchildren that was partly mediated by reduction in exposure to air pollution."

Link to a systematic literature review: This review found a weak but positive link between greenspace and academic achievement.  There's a need for further research on this topic.

A blog devoted to this topic.

Recent work in the garden

Around the time school ended, Sarah Walgenbach helped me weed and add some plants along the asphalt pathway next to the school.

The weeding was to remove competition for some of the most desirable--but struggling--plants: woodland phlox and fringed sedge Carex crinita.  We also removed a lot of creeping Charlie, but finally concluded it's best to remove Charlie early in spring when little else has emerged from the ground.

The walkway border was the most ill-kempt part of the garden--lots of bare and eroding soil. Observations--when students got out of school--indicated that nothing was growing next to the walkway due to trampling.  To reduce trampling, Sarah helped me add edging bricks, plus stakes with a colorful ribbon, to show people where the garden begins.  These "edge indicators" were carefully selected to avoid any danger from tripping.  We left enough room for students to walk 2-3 abreast along the walkway.  Hopefully, this will also allow room for the snow plow in winter.

We planted mostly wild geranium (obtained from other parts of the garden), because it's shade tolerant and hardy.  As of July 23, most of the plants have survived.  Deeper in the garden, we added four spotted Joe-Pye weed to increase diversity.

Sonya Sankaran applied to Dane County for some seedlings to increase diversity in the garden.  If we receive the plants, we'll need help planting them in late August.

I returned from a 3-week trip to Iceland today to check on the garden.  It's doing well!  Due to so much rain, the plants are all very tall and gangly!  I removed some downed branches and did a little weeding of the woodland phlox patches.

The garden looks a bit chaotic--due to so many different plants mixed together. Plants of one species often clump together in nature--creating a pleasing sense of organic order.  In the future, we may want to remove some plants to create more uniform clumps of just one (or a few) species in one spot.  The weeding we did around the fringed sedge should accentuate their clumps. 

How you can help

Summer maintenance work. 

We have applied for plants from Dane County, so if the plants are forthcoming, we will need to plant them late this summer.  If you pass near the garden regularly, or live nearby, please pick up sticks around or in the garden.  Sticks and branches fall from the tree overhead and break down the garden plants unless removed.  Place branches between the sidewalk and street, by the first telephone pole downhill from the garden.

Some light weeding around the edges is also needed.

Low-maintenance design

The garden requires relatively little work.  We've created up to 5 layers of plants.  It's so shady that few weeds can grow. 

What's blooming now

Finished blooming

Bloodroot--First to bloom, About April 10.  White flowers.

Spring beauty.  Native, white flowers.

Blooming now

Future blooming