BRUSH PRAIRIE — Wielding a shovel as tall as his body, Jayden McIntyre, 10, jumped with both feet to dig deeper into the muddy soil.
After some effort, he dug up the roots of a Douglas spirea, then handed the 6-foot-tall plant to another student, who replanted it in a pot. Minutes later, Jayden hefted the potted spirea onto the picnic table in a garden at the Center for Agriculture, Science and Environmental Education.
Jayden was among the Laurin Middle School fifth-graders who donned boots and gloves Wednesday afternoon to dig up native plants and make cuttings of others in the demonstration garden at CASEE. They were assisted by CASEE high school students and teachers.
The easy-to-propagate plants included red osier dogwood, snowberry, ninebark, bleeding heart and scouler’s willow. Over the winter, the cuttings will grow in CASEE’s propagation beds in a greenhouse, said Mark Watrin, a science specialist at Battle Ground Public Schools.
Center for Agriculture, Science and Environmental Education
What: Battle Ground Public Schools ninth- through 12-grade students take science, technology, engineering and math classes integrated with English, career and technical education classes,and the outdoor laboratory. Younger students also do hands-on learning. The 80-acre site includes trails, gardens, ponds, meadows, greenhouses, berry gardens, a creek, wildlife botanical gardens, an arboretum, an orchard, an amphitheater and a compost demonstration site.
Where: 11104 N.E. 149th St., Brush Prairie.
Information:casee.battlegroundps.org or 360-885-5361
Next fall, Laurin students will transplant the native plants in their school’s new third-of-an-acre Laurin Outdoor Learning Area, nicknamed LOLA. Laurin staff and students have been planning the nature space for about three years.
“If you get a plant dug, bring your pot to the picnic table and put your trimmings in the wheelbarrow,” Watrin directed the students.
Fifth-graders Brielle Dallum and Holly Nielsen, both 10, had dug up a Douglas spirea and planted it into a pot. Next, they needed to trim it.
“Cut it about this far up,” said Watrin, indicating that the students should remove about 3 feet of growth. “And cut it at a slight angle.”
Using hand pruners, the girls cut the leggy spirea as Watrin instructed.
Working nearby, Austin Nielsen and Ryan Starbuck, both 10, pruned another spirea they had dug up and potted. Ryan said it was the first time he’d worked in a garden.
“I only dug once at home,” Austin said, snipping another spirea branch.
Blake Davison, 15, a CASEE student, offered assistance: “Trim, ’em down. Keep everything contained. Everything has to be manageable when you pick up the pot.”
Looking over the dozen potted plants on the picnic table, he said, “We need more soil in this one.”
After the Laurin students filled the pots, Watrin instructed, “grab a pot with your partner. Follow me!”
Then he led the way, crunching along the gravel path to the greenhouses where the plants would spend the winter.
There, they joined CASEE teacher Rod Hallman’s class of Laurin students, who also had just dug up plants and made cuttings of others.
Inside a greenhouse, students transplanted cuttings into elevated control beds containing a variety of planting materials including shredded coconut husk and perlite, a light volcanic rock laced with rooting compound. The plants will take root over the winter and grow.
Then, class was over.
“Fifth-graders, you’re going to need your notebooks,” Watrin reminded the students.
They grabbed their notebooks from a table, dropped their gloves onto another table and walked to the parking lot to catch their return bus to Laurin.
Meanwhile, back in the now-quiet greenhouse, a pile of garden gloves waited for the next group of students.
