Grant will help pay for garden at Waterford school

The Waterford Alternative High School will soon be home to the Waterford Community Garden/Outdoor Classroom, thanks to a $5,000 grant from the Waterford Foundation for Public Education.

The garden will be maintained by the students of Waterford Alternative High School and they will be assisted by a landscape architect and master gardener, along with other community members and local growers.

The garden is scheduled to be created beginning this spring at the Crary Campus of the school, with the help of Murphy & Associates Landscape Design. Vegetables from the garden will be donated to the Open Door Outreach Center and Forgotten Harvest hunger relief charities.

The grant will go toward the purchase of tools for the garden, along with plant materials, fencing and wood, as well as other educational items for the school.

The district states that the garden will not only include vegetable beds, but also Michigan native plants, herbs, and flowering perennials, and will allow students to learn more about nature and natural systems.