insects need a place to crash for the night, so why not build them a bug hotel? Bug hotels offer living spaces where ben- eficial insects can propagate (Yes, it’s that kind of hotel.) and overwinter successfully. Three years ago, my students built a 7-foot-high bug hotel that looks a lot like a wooden book shelf without a back board. My students then divided it into little cubbies and filled each cubby with different bedding materials to satisfy even the most discerning insect guests. These materials included bamboo sections, straw, pine cones, and even straight branches that were cut to lay cross-wise through the hotel. By allowing for a greater bug biodiversity, you can restore ecological balance and aesthetic beauty to your garden, not to mention create the perfect site for insect predation study.8 An informative website by Robin Horton of Urban Gardens on How to Design a Bug Hotel to Attract Beneficial Insects and Bees can be found at https://www.
urbangardensweb.com/2016/02/27/how-to-design-a-bug-ho- tel-to-attract-beneficial-insects-and-bees/. Last spring, our bug hotel was invaded by doves that con-
tiguously built nest after nest in the hotel until mid-summer. This was especially exciting because the “dove” hotel was just outside our classroom window, so our students got to see the doves being raised from eggs to fledglings. This past spring, a Red-tailed Hawk perched for hours next to the hotel and spooked the doves into building their nests elsewhere, but not before one of the doves fell victim to the hawk. Now that the bug hotel is back in business for beneficial insects to sleep in peace, ravenous herbaceous insects will be on the decline once again. No matter whether your focus is on vegetables or native
plants, using gardens to teach is a phenomenal way to get students excited about learning. The advantage of grow- ing native plants in your green schoolyard is that you work with nature rather than insisting she grow under alien con- ditions that take a lot of effort to achieve. It is my hope that the prospective green schoolyard gardener not be dissuaded from starting a garden because of the time commitment. By switching to native plants, you benefit your local ecology, create a richer study site for your students and you make your life a little easier because natives want to grow in your gar- den. Selecting the right native plants and using time-saving horticultural techniques allows you to have your garden and your summer, too!
Cathy Law teaches Biology, Earth Science, and Field Biology at New Paltz High School in New Paltz, New York. She and her students started the Courtyard Gardens twelve years ago; it features over 200 different kinds of plants in 15 themed garden zones. The mission of the garden is to create an outdoor learning center dedicated to understanding and improving the environment and to enable learning that is problem-based and interdisciplinary.
Note: The author gratefully acknowledges Dr. Mike Jabot, Dr. Julie Henry, and the NYS Master Teacher Program for assistance writing this manuscript and to the Foundation for Student Enhancement for their yearly assistance in funding the Courtyard Gardens.
Green Teacher 121 Page 7
Endnotes: 1. Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Cornell Garden Based Learning. Benefits of Garden Based learning.
http://gardening.cals.cor-
nell.edu/program-tools/benefits-and-research/ Accessed July 23, 2019.
2. New York Times. Insect Armageddon. Editorial Board https://www.nytimes. com/2017/10/29/opinion/
insect-armageddon-ecosystem-.html Accessed July 25, 2019.
3. Habitat Network. Nativars (Native Cultivars): What We Know and Recom- mend. Becca Rodomsky-Bish.
http://content.yardmap.org/learn/nativars-na- tive-cultivars/ Accessed August 5, 2019.
4. Pollinatorgardens. From Nursery to Nature: Are Native Cultivars as Valu- able to Pollinators as Native Species. Annie S. White. https://pollinatorgardens. org/2013/02/08/my-research/ Accessed August 5, 2019.
5. University of Maryland Extension. The Stale Seedbed Techique: A Relatively Underused Althernative to Weed Management Tactic for Vegetable Production. Cerruti Hooks, Amanda Buchanan and Guidhua Chen. https://extension.umd. edu/learn/stale-seedbed-technique-relatively-underused-alternative-weed-man- agement-tactic-vegetable Accessed July 25, 2019.
6. Earthscape Inhabitant. Japanese Rock Garden.
https://www.earthscapeinhabi-
tant.com/
japanese-rock-garden.html Accessed July 25, 2019.
7. Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Cornell Gar- den Based Learning. Pollinator Friendly.
http://gardening.cals.cornell.edu/gar- den-guidance/pollinator-protection/ Accessed July 23, 2019.
8. Urban Gardens. How to Design a Bug Hotel to attract benefical insects. Robin Plaskoff Horton
https://www.urbangardensweb.com/2016/02/27/how-to-design- a-bug-hotel-to-attract-beneficial-insects-and-bees/ Accessed July 23, 2019.
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