New teaching school garden opened in the Botanical Garden of TU Dresden

The Botanical Garden of TU Dresden is a center of plant diversity right in the heart of Dresden. Around 10,000 plant species grow on the 3.25-hectare site. The area is not only open to visitors, but is also involved in research and teaching in a variety of ways as a Central Unit of TU Dresden.

Now another building block is being added, which will expand the Botanical Garden in the future to include an extracurricular, hands-on educational venue in addition to the existing Botanical School. A new teaching school garden was officially opened on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. The garden is intended to provide students, future teachers, school classes and also the public with a natural place to teach and learn, experience and enjoy.

The 400 square meter area was previously used for the presentation of useful plants and has now been largely redesigned by the students themselves. The garden area was lowered by around one meter in the center, enclosed by dry stone walls and demarcated by a picket fence. Around the edges, there is a permanent planting of perennials, shrubs and espaliered fruit, which are used by people in different ways. The soil beds in the center are made available to the didactic staff of the respective degree programs for their projects and courses. There is also a small greenhouse, compost boxes and a work table. As a special feature, benches have been installed in the south-east corner for outdoor teaching.

For the Director of the Botanical Garden, Prof. Christoph Neinhuis, the realization of the teaching school garden has made a long-cherished wish come true: "The crop section, which was outdated both in terms of content and concept, has now been redesigned to meet current needs for the training of future teachers, but also for school classes using the Botanical School. In addition, we are convinced that we will also be able to provide an attractive offer for the numerous visitors to the Botanical Garden. I would particularly like to take this opportunity to thank all visitors for their donations, which have been used in part for the construction."

Prof^. Monique Meier, Head of the Biology Teacher Training degree program, considers this newly created teaching and learning location in the Botanical Garden to be particularly valuable for practical and interdisciplinary teacher training at TU Dresden. "Analyzing the soil conditions and requirements of plants, sowing and harvesting them yourself and discussing the importance of useful plants with students and their teachers is just a small insight into the learning opportunities that are possible for prospective teachers in this ecologically and didactically designed teaching school garden."

Further information:
Botanical Garden:
https://tu-dresden.de/bg

Botanical school
https://tu-dresden.de/bg/veranst/angebote-fuer-schueler-innen-und-kindergruppen/botanikschule

Contact:
Prof. Christoph Neinhuis
Director of
Botanical Garden of the TU Dresden
Email: