Keeping up with daily maintenance tasks and do daily observation of your plants makes the whole gardening process far more manageable (and helps to avoid issues in the future).

Remember: when it comes to maintenance, your students can be your best allies . Have students practice their critical observation skills!

• Have students inspect, document, report, and notify you of any noticeable "activity" within the garden
• Assign maintenance responsibilities & tasks to specific students and then build a schedule for the week
• Make sure everyone takes on their fair share of the responsibility, and sticks to the routine
• Create easy to follow check-lists and systems to support the maintenance of the garden and to create classroom structure

If you set high expectations for students, and give them responsibility for a particular role, chances are they will rise to meet the challenge!

This section of the Guide will tackle two important aspects of garden maintenance:

1. Commitment & Responsibility
2. Handling the Holidays