We are converting one of the courtyards at our school into an outdoor classroom/learning garden space. This will be the initial phase of prep work for the garden to be established. Here are the instructions from the landscape support:

"As far as specifics for prep, weeding and getting all the unnecessary elements out of the space is key for a transformation of space like this. From the Crabapple tree and to the West of that (that’s most of the courtyard) would be a good starting point. Taking out any substantial weeds and grass and breaking up the dirt with a tiller or something similar would be great. The existing plants (hostas, dogwood shrub, and the shrubs on the West window) can stay where they are and you can have people just work around them. There are four drains in the courtyard (two on each side) that need to be uncovered. Some are mostly uncovered, but could still use some cleaning around them, but there are two that need more work uncovering them from weeds and mud.
On the East side of the Crabapple, if I remember correctly, has a lot more weeds and also some plants that could possibly be used. Some of them are in OK condition, but mostly just the daylilies will be able to survive. The same can be done over on that side, but if only the West side gets finished, that is a great step forward!"

We also recently had a rain barrel donated and may have the possibility of installing it.