Come on into the garden - and learn

Green is the new black, it seems. Everyone, from pop stars to politicians, is trying to emphasise their green credentials, and there are now signs that children are getting in on the act: by learning the outdoor skills of Monty Don and Alan Titchmarsh. More and more schools are taking to the world outside the classroom, and getting their fingers soily – and even scooping prizes at top horticultural events.

This year has been the year that children broke through into grown-up events such as the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. The Growing Schools Garden, a cheerful hotchpotch of habitations created by primary pupils, took a Gold award at the show. Moreover, this garden, designed by the TV presenter Chris Beardshaw and made with the help of 31 schools and 500 pupils, went on to win the Tudor Rose award, too, which means it won the best Gold at the show.

The new vogue for school gardening is reflected at the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Wisley, which has established a classroom, a teaching garden and a growing lab. And it is not only the under-11s who are discovering the pleasures of grubbing around in the dirt: Writhlington School in Somerset has won a glittering prize for its orchids.

Chris Beardshaw waxes lyrical about the benefits of gardening for young growers. Children are full of excitement, he says, and when introduced to a varied and mesmerising environment, their imaginations are sparked. His Hampton Court Palace Flower Show project shows just what can be achieved within school grounds "with the aim of turning what is so often barren grass into a life- changing theatre," he says, continuing: "I honestly believe that there is no area of learning that can't be improved by being out in the fresh air, getting your hands dirty, or getting close to nature.

"The more young people experience the wider world, the more informed, inspired and engaged they become."

One of the schools that worked on this project was Portway Junior School, in Andover. Pupils used rubbish and copper wire to make sculptures of the mini-beasts they found on school grounds. They built "bug hotels", and made bat boxes with the help of secondary- school students. Older pupils learnt about primroses, then sculpted them in clay. They studied the Green Man legend and used plastic milk bottles to make images of the character, which were then hidden around the garden.

According to Wendy David, the head of the school gardening club, the garden-oriented activities enhanced learning across the curriculum, from science and geography to design and technology and citizenship.

Children from St Ives Infants School, who made cushions and a sculpture for the garden, travelled up from the tip of Cornwall to play their instruments under the trees. They were "over the moon" to be performing here, according to the reception-class teacher, Ann Buckley. "We are lucky because we have a garden where the children can grow broad beans and potatoes," she says. "And we have an arrangement with a local woodland charity, so the children get to go outside a lot."

Recently, pupils have experimented with making sculptures with parts that blow in the wind, and composed music inspired by floating pollen. "Everything we do is very hands-on, and thus memorable," she says. "We're trying to use the outdoors a lot more now, in everything we do."

The prizewinning garden included gabions (cylindrical containers) filled with rocks, creating a geological impression of Britain. It also featured a woodland habitat, a model of a farm, and a poetry garden. There was a ladybird habitat, an evolutionary garden with some of the world's oldest trees and ferns, an exotic wooden storytelling chair, a meadow and an arid garden. There were 25 types of fruit and 3,000 plants, more than 100 of which were grown from seed.

The project was backed with £250,000 from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, as part of the Learning Outside the Classroom manifesto. This directive aims to persuade more schools to make the most of their school grounds for learning, and is in part designed to counteract the risk-averse culture that has taken hold in schools due to to a fear of accidents and legal challenges.

The manifesto goes hand in hand with a government scheme, the Growing Schools programme, launched six years ago to inspire schools to teach their pupils by offering first-hand experiences of growing things, and by learning about farming and the countryside. This programme's work is likely to see a particular boost in the forthcoming school year, which has been designated the Year of Farming and Food, when young people will be encouraged to learn more about how food is produced and reaches the consumer.

Though gardening in schools is often thought to be the preserve of under-11s, there are signs that secondary pupils are also catching the bug. Costessey High School in Norwich, which works extensively on environmental education, contributed the gabions to the Growing Schools Garden. According to Pauline Williamson, a senior science technician at the school, working on the garden helped to show how the school could contribute to the environmental education of the community.

A comprehensive school with an illustrious horticultural record is the aforementioned Writhlington, which won the Silver Gilt Flora at the 2003 European Orchid Congress. A physics teacher and gardening guru, Simon Pugh-Jones manages to successfully incorporate gardening in the curriculum. Thanks to his guidance, the Writhlington example bucks the trend of children losing interest in gardening once they leave primary school. A new vocational diploma for 14- to 19-year-olds is likely to help to maintain the interest of secondary-school pupils across the country.

The future for gardening in schools is now looking rosy. "We've definitely seen a rise in interest, with more schools visiting us," says Ruth Taylor, head of education at the Royal Horticultural Society. "And with our new facilities we expect that to increase further." These new facilities include a classroom, a teaching garden and a growing lab at RHS Wisley. "The lab is a glasshouse to the side of the main, grand glasshouse at Wisley," Taylor says. "The beauty of it is that the children are taught practical techniques next door to gardening professionals and a magnificent array of plants. We're teaching them how to propagate, sow seeds, and so on. There's even a cooker in the classroom, so we can show them the whole cycle and inspire them."

Indeed, nutrition is perhaps where the current value – and future potential – of gardening in schools can truly be seen. With the support of the Helen Hamlyn Trust, the RHS has been putting horticulturalists into schools, a development that is already bearing fruit. "We've seen a change in attitude towards food, with children growing and cooking their own," says Taylor.

Her views are endorsed by other experts."Teachers are always telling us about children who shine once they have the opportunity to learn things in a different way," says Mary Jackson, senior development officer of Learning Through Landscapes, the environmental education charity dedicated to helping schools develop their grounds as learning environments. "But there's also the health agenda. When pupils grow their own fruit and vegetables, they are much more likely to eat them!"

Some see gardening as a lost art these days, unlike the grow-your-own approach of the mid-20th century, when horticultural skills were passed from generation to generation. And that is why Taylor feels a duty to keep gardening as part of the curriculum.

But with the increasing emphasis on buying local and growing your own, gardening could come to play a bigger role in schools – and not just as part of the curriculum. Indeed, Taylor recalls talking to one boy who had never liked vegetables before. "After growing and cooking his own courgettes, he now insists that his parents buy them every time they go to the supermarket," she says.

How to catch them early

By Anna Pavord

Don't force it – lead by example. Gardening won't grab them just because you tell them it should. If you are interested yourself, children will want to be involved.

Tools should be real – don't give them tacky plastic stuff. Let them garden with you. Take them seriously and they will take gardening seriously.

Trust them: don't waste time telling children not to gnaw on an aconite root – most are sensible enough to reject something that tastes so bitter.

Edging and marking the boundaries are important to a child, so you need plenty of bits and pieces to hand: pebbles, slivers of wood, scallop shells, broken bricks...

If you are called on for advice, distinguish between matters of fact and matters of taste. In the case of sowing seed, certain principles must be grasped. But when planting orange French marigolds among purple pansies, children must do what delights them.

Don't make them wear gloves. It's good to be in direct contact with the plants – as long as they're not planting euphorbias.

Choose the right plants – something striking, yet robust enough to survive being manhandled.

Fast-growing sunflowers can be a hit if you have room. The long-drawn-out nature of much gardening is what children find most hard to grasp.

And, of course, food can be rewarding and goes down well. Tomatoes are useful if space is limited: they grow upwards rather than outwards.

Anna Pavord, gardening writer, The Independent Magazine

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