1. Conservation Landscapes and Garden Goals
Updated 10/2017
Conservation Landscapes
and Garden Goals
Score Four: Students, Schools, Streams, and the Bay
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin – Score Four: Students, Schools, Streams, and The Bay
This is a two-part presentation to 1) introduce students to Conservation Landscapes and 2) stimulate the process of defining project goals.
The elements of conservation landscaping that are presented are particularly relevant to the reduction of stormwater pollution. Students can learn more about conservation landscapes at
And
Rebecca Wolf and Nguyen Le
Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin

2. What is a Conservation Landscape?
A garden or landscape that uses materials and methods to:
Benefit the local environment.
Provide pleasure and beauty for humans.
Questions to ask students:
How could a garden or more trees and bushes on our campus benefit the local environment?
Possible correct answers:
Provide habitat, including nectar sources, for insects and birds and migratory organisms and mammals.
By increasing diversity of plants on the campus, it creates habitat for a greater diversity of fauna.
Plants with longer root systems increase the porosity of the soil, enabling more precipitation to percolate down into the soil.
Flowering plants and trees will use more rainwater than turf grass, thereby reducing the amount of runoff.
The trees use more carbon dioxide than grass, thus reducing carbon dioxide in the atmospheres.
PLUS SO MANY MORE REASONS.
How could gardens or trees benefit the students and teachers?

3. Conservation Garden Elements
Native Plants
Definition:
A native plant is any plant that historically grew in the region.
This and the following slides, describe important elements of a conservation landscape.
Have the students discuss which of the above benefits relate to water quality and why. For example:
Not using fertilizer reduces the amount of nutrients entering the waterways.
Not using pesticides reduces the amount of toxins entering the waterways.
The increased porosity of the soil allows more rainwater to percolate into the soil.
The plants uptake more rainwater than turf grass.
Possible research questions for your students:
Why do native plants require less fertilizer?
Why aren’t pesticides needed for native plant gardens?

4. Conservation Garden Elements
Benefits of native plants:
Need less (or no) fertilizer.
Need less (or no) pesticides.
Have much deeper roots than turf grasses, increasing soil porosity.
Provide habitat for native insects, birds, and other wildlife.

5. Conservation Garden Elements
Mulch
Definition:
A layer of shredded bark, grass clippings, leaves, hay, newspaper, or cardboard placed over the soil.
Mulch reduces the need for watering in this garden.

6. Conservation Garden Elements
Benefits of mulch:
Maintains moisture in the soil.
Maintains soil temperature.
Reduces erosion by covering bare soil.
Absorbs stormwater runoff.
Adds nutrients and organic matter to soil as it decomposes.
Directs foot traffic.
Can enhance visual appeal.
Reduces weeds.
Ask students how and why the listed “benefits of mulch” protect water quality.
Absorbs stormwater runoff. The surface of the mulch is rough and porous, which breaks up the energy of rain drops, and allows the drops to infiltrate into the soil.
Mulch decays overtime, adding organic matter to soil. It also leads to an increase in microbial organisms. Both reduce the need for chemical fertilizer.
Directs foot traffic
→ protects soil from compaction, which reduces permeability.
Maintains soil temperature
→ protects plants during freezes, heat waves.
Maintains soil moisture: reduces need for watering; conserves water.
To better understand the soil science behind mulch, have students research scientific articles and fact sheets.

7. Conservation Garden Elements
Compost
Definition:
Decomposed organic material, such as leaves, plants, fruit and vegetable scraps, and animal manure mixed into garden soil.

8. Conservation Garden Elements
Benefits of compost:
Adds nutrients and beneficial microbes to the soil.
Organic matter & microbes cause soil to form lumps (aggregates), increasing its porosity.
Organic matter holds water in the soil.
Again, have students discuss how this element of conservation gardening can help improve streams. For example:
Adds nutrients and beneficial microbes to the soil.
→ Reduces water pollution from chemical fertilizers.
Improves soil porosity.
→ Reduces stormwater runoff.
Organic matter holds water in the soil.
→ Absorbs rain.
→ Reduces water usage.
To learn more about the biology and chemistry involved in science of composting, see

9. Do’s & Don’ts of Conservation Landscapes
DO replace turf grass with a planned landscape that uses native trees, shrubs, and plants. DO remove invasive species from the area. DO pick plants that suit your site and your project goals. DO NOT use commercial fertilizers or pesticides.
Ferns thrive in this shady backyard.

10. Conservation Garden Benefits Summary
Helps control erosion and other runoff problems.
Conserves water.
Removes pollutants from stormwater runoff.
Promotes healthy soils
Provides habitat for wildlife.
Reduces air pollution.
Is managed to conserve energy, reduce waste, and eliminate or minimize the use of pesticides and fertilizers.

11. Part 2: Choosing Your Garden Goals
The goals you choose for your conservation landscape (or a different Stormwater Action Project) will influence its location, your plant choices, and other aspects of your project.
This section, introduces your class to the goal selection part of their Student Action Project. The presentation introduces different possible goals. If time allows, student teams can research and report on the goals prior to voting. This provides a greater opportunity for reading and summarizing scientific texts.
Goal selection ideally involves team and class discussion and voting.
See the Score Four Project goals student handout that support this part of project planning.

12. Your Number 1 Goal: Reduce Stormwater Runoff
Gardens to reduce the sediments and other pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay!

13. Other Possible Goals A pollinator garden.
This is an opportunity to research and/or discuss:
the decline in bee populations
the importance of pollinators to the environment and societies around the globe
The need for plant biodiversity, plant corridors, and pesticide-free areas.
The decline in bee populations and implications are discussed in some of the following sources. Students also can research and summarize this topic prior to voting on the project goals.
High School classes:
Elementary classes:
Attract bees and other pollinators with pesticide-free flowering plants.

14. Other Possible Goals A butterfly garden.
Students can discuss the importance of host plants for specific butterfly species, such as the monarch, pictured above, and the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly.
This presents research opportunities on the relationship of native plants and native insects or the evolutionary relationship between insects and plants.
Provide host plants needed by specific species to reproduce and survive.

15. Other Possible Goals A bird “sanctuary”.
Attract many species with a variety of short and tall plants and shrubs that provide food, nesting sites, and protection.
Students can research and report on the decline in song birds and the multiple reasons for the decline.
Resources:

16. What about water features for frogs and birds?
Other Possible Goals
Plan to support many types of wildlife by using plants that attract insects that in turn attract …
Birds
Reptiles
Amphibians
Mammals
What about water features for frogs and birds?

17. Other Possible Goals Grow people food.
Planting a food garden or food forest requires greater maintenance during the summer. In selecting the site for a food project consideration needs to be made about where the stormwater runoff is coming from to ensure that it does not contain toxins.

18. Other Possible Goals Start an outdoor classroom.
Students often get excited about this option. As a student project, it is best to involve multiple classes, maintenance personnel, and the principal in the planning process. It can be undertaken as a multi-year project, involving parents and community organizations.

19. Team and Class Discussions
Are there other goals you want for your project?
Which of the goals did you like the best and why?
Before deciding on your project goals, discuss:
Can our goals be achieved in the site(s) we have selected?
Will these goals need to be accomplished in stages?
What resources are needed to achieve these goals? Do we have them?
How can the project be maintained?
Are there other factors that need to be considered?
Setting realistic goals is a crucial step for your project’s success, as it is for any project in the applied sciences, engineering, or project management. If it is impossible to provided maintenance for a garden project, then other projects, such as a trash campaign, are equally valid. Rather than using this slide, students can be encouraged to come up with questions such as these on their own, but as the teams present their thoughts, and the class discussion and voting ensues, the process should include the above points.
Teams of students can use the Score Four Project Goals student handout to explore their goals.
If the answers to these questions are:
“Yes” → start the planning process.
“No” → your class needs to rethink your goals and possibly consider a different type of Stormwater Action Project.