What is Rewild my School?
Rewild my School is a hands-on gardening program for Melbourne’s inner north schools, helping school communities co-create beautiful, biodiverse gardens that nurture both people and place. The co-creation and communal care of each wild garden supports student engagement, strengthens community connections, and fosters a shared love of the land.
Each wild garden is thoughtfully designed to become a restorative space of natural beauty and biodiversity - supporting student and staff well-being while providing valuable habitat for local flora and fauna.
Tended Earth works with the ethos of restoration and revitalisation, focusing on rebuilding soil health and incorporating existing landscaping elements wherever possible.
Tended Earth welcomes schools wishing to transform their school grounds by co-creating new pockets of wild, living beauty.
Rewilding helps people & place
What are the benefits?
Enhanced student well-being by creating natural places of respite, reflection, and relaxation.
Boosted living beauty and biodiversity - enriching school grounds with flora and creating valuable habitat for the associated fauna.
Strengthened community connection and stewardship by engaging students, teachers and families in creating and caring for the wild gardens.
Opportunities for hands-on learning that can be integrated/ aligned with school curricula.
Rewilding Schools, Together
How it Works
Step 1
Consultation & Design
On-site consultation focused on transforming a site within the school grounds (typically 50-100 sq. metres) into a place of beauty, belonging, and care.
Design of a multi-layered biodiverse garden - featuring planting palette rich in native species, textures, and sensory variety.
Careful selection of plants based on their suitability to climate as well as site-specific conditions to ensure each wild garden is ecologically resilient.
Design focused on incorporating existing landscaping structures to reduce waste and cost. Pre-existing landscaping masterplans can be integrated upon request.
Itemised estimate of costs to bring project to life, providing full transparency and discussion of budget
Step 2
Site Prep, Plants & Materials
Sourcing of high-quality plants and materials from local suppliers
Site preparation by Hort TAFE students (under supervision by Tended Earth) to boost the biological health of soil prior to planting
Step 3
Community Engagement
Facilitation of community planting day(s) involving students, staff, and local families.
Facilitation of student planting sessions (e.g with School Well-Being Team and selected students)
Mulching of new gardens by community or Horticultural TAFE students (under supervision).
Step 4
On-going Support
Rewild my School plantings are designed to become low maintenance wild gardens after 1-2 years. To help schools during this time, Tended Earth will provide:
Comprehensive maintenance and care guide (2 year plan)
Optional hands-on session(s) with staff & students: effective watering techniques, weed identification, biodiversity indicators.
Optional follow-up visit(s) for seasonal assessment of additional planting
Book a consultation with Tended Earth to Rewild Your School
Implementing Rewild my School
Costs
Project costs vary depending on the size and condition of the selected garden site - budget considerations and projected costs will be discussed during initial consultation. Typical (50-100 sq. metre with minimal hard landscaping works) underused spaces can be transformed into a wild garden for $10-20K. To reduce waste and costs, Tended Earth focuses on incorporating and using pre-existing hard landscaping elements.
Funding for Rewild my School
Grant Opportunities
Victorian Government Schools are eligible to apply for the following grants -
Junior Landcare & Biodiversity Grants
$5K
outdoor on-ground projects with student engagement & learning activities
next round 2026
Victorian Schools Garden Program Grants
$4.5K vouchers
applicable grant categories: ‘Habitat Garden’, ‘Sensory Garden’, ‘School Yard Make Over’
nursery & product vouchers also available
next round March 2026
$30K
“supportive school environments – green and open spaces, sensory play areas, staff capacity building.”
ongoing applications
Frequently Asked Questions
Extra Information
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Wild gardens can be used for science (life cycles, ecosystems, climate), humanities (place-based learning), art, maths, and wellbeing sessions.
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Wild gardens provide food, shelter, and nesting opportunities for urban wildlife including insects, small birds, beneficial pollinators, and native skinks.
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Our wild gardens are designed to maximise resilience through multi-layered plantings with optimal mulch depth. Each garden includes hardy plants that are well-suited to Melbourne’s climate. Once established, these plants will cope well with heat and require minimal watering. Watering and maintenance advice is provided to guide schools with caring for their wild gardens while plants establish. Holiday watering rosters with parent volunteers can be coordinated upon request.
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Rewild My School is designed to complement what schools already do. Wild gardens can support wellbeing programs, nature-play initiatives, STEAM learning, biodiversity studies, and curriculum-linked outdoor activities. Rewild my School can be tailored to align with your school’s top priorities.
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Tended Earth’s approach is designed to avoid overloading staff. Before planting day, we need a point of contact for scheduling and approvals. After planting, ongoing care can be shared across staff, students, and parent volunteers.
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We can ensure paths, planting heights, and activity stations are accessible for students with mobility, sensory, or learning needs. Schools can use wild gardens as inclusive outdoor learning spaces.
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Yes! Many Melbourne school grounds include hard surfaces or difficult soil conditions. We can revitalise compacted soil, create raised beds, or introduce new pockets of gardens. Small spaces, fence lines, or under-used corners can still become biodiverse wild spaces.
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Absolutely! Many schools begin with a single pocket garden and gradually extend, connecting wild areas to create small habitat corridors.
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Within 6–10 weeks you’ll see clear growth. By 6–12 months, most wild gardens develop strong structure and visible biodiversity. Plant species used for Rewild my School generally establish quickly and thrive with minimal intervention.
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Yes! Schools can form “Wild Garden Crews”, or wellbeing groups responsible for small seasonal tasks. These roles build responsibility, teamwork, and pride within the school community.
Helping schools create wild spaces
Partnerships & Support
Tended Earth is seeking partnership and funding to help expand our vision of boosting the wild living beauty of inner city schools. Funding supports government schools to ensure that every school has the opportunity to create a wild, restorative garden - for, and with, its community.
