Spiritual Garden

We were very excited to be involved in a joint project with Seer Green C of E Combined School in Spring 2013 to build a Spiritual or "Quiet" Garden within the school grounds, where the children could go to take some time out for quiet reflection or prayer.

Background: The idea of a Quiet Garden came about after conversations between the school staff and Rev. Gaenor about how the school day was getting busier and noisier. Primary Schools are usually vibrant, purposeful and inspiring places with staff who work hard it provide creative and stimulating environments in which children can become independent, self-motivated learners. Inevitably by providing such stimulating places, time for quiet reflection within the school day becomes hard to find.

What will our Quiet Garden feel like? The area was built to have planting, colour and seating, with a central square area to house 8 mosaics, each with a spiritual theme. These were enthusiastically created by the schoolchildren themselves, with the help of Janna Holder from the Baptish Church. Over time the school will be adding a sculpture and water feature - all of which will provide a reflective space which hopefully will need minimal maintainance!

When was it built? Working with local experts including a Landscape Architect and builder, the school built a plan over one month from 9th February to 9th March 2013. Bishop Alan blessed the garden on Wednesday, 20th March 2013.

How was it built? The work plan involved initially levelling the square, using a digger, then securing the sleepers around it. A membrane was then put in place, and the playbark installed. Mushroom compost was mixed into the soil in readiness for planting. Paths were then created throughout the garden, and the finishing touches involved placing the seats in position, securing the blackboard and mosaics in place, as well as planting of the herbaceous plants and trees. Many thanks to all our volunteers who worked so hard to build this special place. Below you will see some updates from 2013:

Update on 6th March 2013: We are now nearing the end of the scheduled plan, with things coming together! The 6m central square has been flattened and secured in place by sleepers and the bonded playsurface will be going down today. The area for planting has been mixed with compost and the trees and shrubs will be going in on Saturday 9th March and during the week of 11th March. Next steps will be to put down the stepping stones paths, and trellis around the central square.

Update on 10th Feb 2013: Picture of the 4 members of the initial garden teamGreat progress was made in the garden this weekend, and our thanks go to the initial team for all their hard work - Mark, Nick, Simon, Richard and Trevor, not to mention our little helper Alex who stayed for some digging! A special thank you to Trevor for giving up his time and bringing the digger - it meant that the team are now ahead of schedule, having levelled the square, put down the membrane and the hogging! The team enjoyed a nice day off on Sunday as a result! For more photos please see our Photo Gallery! Trevor Tack in his digger, with little helper at Spiritual Garden

 


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