Greening First Avenue Public School

By Leslie Cole

Elementary school playgrounds of the past were often expanses of cement or asphalt and pounded dirt. But three schoolgrounds in the Glebe have developed outdoor classrooms in the past few years. And this year, one will plant a Tiny Forest to further the process of greening their schoolyard.

First Avenue Public School Council has partnered with the Glebe Community Association’s Environment Committee to develop a small forest plot on 16 square metres in an unused corner of the junior yard at the First Avenue school. The Tiny Forest concept is one pioneered in Japan where botanist Akira Miyowaki created small green spaces with trees and shrubs beside sidewalks in the middle of Tokyo. The fast-growing miniature forests were helped by a special mix of ingredients toenrich the soil and created welcome oases in the urban core. The Tiny Forest at First Avenue will be the first in the Glebe.

The joint endeavour was born at a GCA Sustainable Coffeehouse in 2024 when First Avenue parent Tara Beauchamp and GCA Environment Committee member Joan Freeman were on a panel about Greenspace and Water. The school council had received a Community Environmental Projects Grant from the City to enhance its outdoor classroom by planting native shrubs and trees in the surrounding area. The GCA had a small amount of money from admission to its Climate and Your Cash presentations. By pooling their resources, they had enough to start planning a Tiny Forest, and they were recently given additional funds by Councillor Shawn Menard and an anonymous donor to assure the budget of approximately $3,000 could be met.“What really excites me is that it is a collaboration between young parents and older GCA members with opportunities for neighbourhood volunteers to get involved,” says Della Wilkinson, chair of the GCA Environment Committee.

The school council has called on support from the school principal and the OCDSB Facilities Department to grind up an old tree stump in the plot and approve which plants and trees will be put there. The GCA environment group has asked the non-profit Forêt Capitale Forest for advice to determine what “amendments” are needed in the corner patch of pounded earth. Forêt Capitale Forest has a mission to mitigate climate change by planting trees in the capital region and provides detailed instructions on its website about how to create a Tiny Forest. It has helped several community groups create tiny forests in Ottawa often on NCC land or in schoolyards.

The process will involve several steps. After the stump is removed and the soil is tested this spring, a list of inputs will be drawn up to “amend” the soil. This may include layers of straw, leaf mulch, compost, manure, vermiculite or gypsum. The 4×4 metre area will be dug to a depth of a metre and existing soil will be replaced with specially calculated additions. The newly prepared area must rest for a few months before planting – hopefully in the fall.Trees and shrubs planted will grow much more quickly in this enriched soil than in a natural forest cycle, and within a short number of years, competing trees and shrubs willgrow enough to offer shade for students and shelter and food for birds, insects and small animals. While it grows, it will offer opportunities for outdoor science lessons to measure growth of the trees, snowfall and rainfall and to identify bugs, birds and plants.“A Tiny Forest has great impact for its local environment and the entire community can watch it grow and transform over the next few years. We are really excited to bring this project to life and are so happy that the community has become a part of this project.” says Christina Anastassopoulos, chair of the First Avenue Parents Council.

The Tiny Forest team is looking for volunteers to help with adding inputs to prepare the soil later this spring and planting the forest in September or October. They also need volunteers to water the native plant gardens in the Junior yard through the summer. Anyone interested in helping develop the Glebe’s Tiny Forest please contact: environment@glebeca.caLeslie Cole is a member of the GCA Environment Committee. She has lived in the Glebe for more than 25 years, and her three daughters all attended First Avenue Public School. A rendering of the proposed Tiny Forest at First Avenue Public School, by Christina Anastassopoulos, chair of the First Avenue Parents Council