My Time: Hillsmere Elementary beautified with native plants

Hillsmere Elementary School students and their new principal, Mary Wagner, were welcomed by a blossoming new landscape around the school's sign as school started this fall.

Last spring, the Hillsmere Parent-Teacher Association and Girl Scout Troop 2371 were awarded a grant from Unity Gardens in Crownsville to add habitat and beautify their schoolyard. The school sign landscaping was the outgoing fifth-grade Junior Troop's Bronze Award project, supervised by troop leader Jennifer Shearer.

With the help of Janet Norman with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sheen Roos of Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center and schoolyard habitat specialist Karen Mullin with the Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Education, the girls researched what Maryland native plants would do well in the conditions at their site. They also chose plants that would not block the sign when fully grown and would flower or had wildlife berries while school is in session.

Norman showed the Girl Scouts how to take a soil sample, which was sent to a soil testing laboratory for analysis. The girls could feel the sticky clay in the soil which limited their choice of plants.

"Worst soil ever," according to HES custodian Keith Collins, whose help in digging planting holes was greatly needed.

The Unity Gardens grant triggered a cascade of other funders, such as the Girl Scouts, the Hillsmere PTA, USFWS and MAEOE, and other volunteers. Mike Miller, a HES parent and owner of Rental Works, was essential in rototilling the hard clay soil and using his backhoe to dig tree holes. Homestead Gardens supplied plants at wholesale pricing and helpful tips from horticulturist John Pendergraph, another HES parent.

"It's been a real team effort," said Shearer, who helped the new landscape survive the summer drought and heat until the roots established themselves.

Already the native landscaping has attracted dragonflies, butterflies and goldfinches. A bird's nest has been spotted, at kids' eye-level, in one of the new native holly trees. Purple dome asters and white heath asters have bloomed. Mosaic stones, honoring retired Hillsmere elementary school teachers and staff, were also added.

The area can be used for lessons in ecology or just as a peaceful place for students to feel good about their school. HES received a Maryland Green School designation from MAEOE last spring, and this landscape will continue efforts to connect children to nature.

The project has received lots of attention due to the school's high visibility on Arundel on the Bay Road. Drivers, bikers and dog walkers have given lots of compliments and appreciation for the new plantings, noted Norman. "People are really encouraged to see adults and children working together to beautify the schoolyard."

The HES PTA landscape team is planning more native plantings this fall, so keep a lookout for their progress.

- Janet Norman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Jennifer Shearer, Girl Scout Jr. Troop 2371