EXAMPLE OUTDOOR CLASSROOM PROJECT PLAN: Butterfly, Butterfly Garden

“Butterfly, Butterfly Garden” Project Plan by Doyle Keasal, Alabama Wildlife Federation & Alabama Cooperative Extension System For more Outdoor Classroom info visit the Alabama Wildlife Federation’s website at alabamawildlife.org. of 5

EXAMPLE OUTDOOR CLASSROOM PROJECT PLAN:

Butterfly, Butterfly Garden

Butterflies are one of those insects that just about everyone enjoys watching as they flutter around the

garden. Attracting butterflies is easily accomplished by making sure you provide a variety of plants that

provide nectar for the adults as well as foliage that their caterpillars can eat. The following plans are for a

garden designed for butterflies that is also in the shape of a butterfly, therefore the name Butterfly,

Butterfly Garden.

Location Choice Suggestions:

Flat, Smooth Area (can be on the side of a hill or flat on the ground as long as the soil is not

bumpy or hilly)

Area Approved for Digging Down 6-12 inches (must not have any utility lines in the area)

Full Sun (most flowers and “host plants” enjoyed by butterflies and caterpillars require 6-8

hours of sunlight per day)

Example Butterfly, Butterfly Gardens:

Estimated Cost: $558.35

Tools, Materials & Supplies:

Tape measure

Roll of Twine

Stakes or Flags

Landscape Marking Spray Paint

(2) Sharp, Straight-edged Shovel & (2) Round-pointed Shovels

Wheelbarrow

Tined Garden Rake

Garden hose

Prattville Intermediate School Carrollton Elementary in Pickens Co.


Example Outdoor Classroom Project Plan: Butterfly, Butterfly Garden

Butterfly, Butterfly Garden Costs (Including plants) EST. COST: $558.35

Butterfly,

Butterfly

Materials & Supplies Estimated

Cost

Source of

Materials

Monetary/Item

Donation B Butterfly One can of marking paint $10.00 Hardware Store

B Butterfly Roll of twine (at least 500 ft.) $5.00 Hardware Store

B Butterfly (80) 9’x6” pavers $136.00 ($1.07 each)

Hardware Store

B Butterfly (2) Bag Black Mulch (2cu. ft. each) $6.68 Hardware Store

B Butterfly (11) Garden Soil Blend by StaGreen (3cu. ft. bag)

$120.67 ($10.97 each)

Hardware Store

B Butterfly * Plants from Nursery (See lists below) $280.00 Hardware Store

Example Plant List Est. Cost: $280.00 Description Quantity Estimated Cost Description Quantity Estimated Cost Flat of marigolds 1 $10.00 Pentas 6 $30.00

Buddleia 2 $20.00 Blue Salvia 6 $30.00

Black-eyed Susan 6 $30.00 Yellow Lantana 6 $30.00

Purple Cone Flower 6 $30.00 Red Lantana 6 $30.00

Homestead Verbena 6 $30.00 Fennel 4 $10.00

Butterfly Weed 6 $30.00 Total Est Cost: $280.00

Example Plant Arrangement in Garden:

*Other Nectar Plant Suggestions: Asters, Blazing Stars, Salvia, Pineapple Sage, Cosmos & Dianthus

*Other “Host Plant” Suggestions: Cabbage, Fennel, Dill, Parsley, Passion Flower Vine, & White Yarrow

Plant Key

Buddleai (Butterfly Bush)

Homestead Verbena

Yellow Lantana

Butterfly Weed

Black-eyed Susan

Purple Cone Flower

Red Lantana

Pentas

Marigolds

Zinnias

- - - - - Pavers

Black Mulch



Step by Step Instructions with Photographs and Diagrams for Construction of Garden:

Step 1: Draw or trace your

butterfly garden design on a

piece of grid paper (1/2” square

grid is a common size). (See

example on page 2.)

Step 2: Select the area for the

butterfly garden, and lay out a

large grid with the same number

of grid squares as Step 1 using a

tape measure, stakes and twine.

You may want to make each

grid equal to one square foot.

(12” x 12”).

Step 3: Once the large grid is

laid out on the ground, use a can

of marking paint to draw the

outline of the butterfly over the

grid lines (twine) and onto the

ground. (Remember, you are

creating a really big copy of the

butterfly drawing that you made on

your grid paper.)



Step by Step Instructions Continued:

Step 4: (Using herbicide) Now that the outline of

the butterfly is drawn on the ground, spray the area

inside the butterfly outline with Glyphosate

herbicide (ex/ Roundup). Wait a few days until you

see that the plants are starting to brown. Once this

takes place, using a sharp, straight edged shovel, cut

the soil along the outline of the butterfly’s body

and remove the top 6” to 12” of soil.

Or Step 4: (Without herbicide) Now that the

outline of butterfly is drawn on the ground,

use a sharp, straight edged shovel to cut the

sod along the outline of the butterfly’s

body. Remove the top 6” to 12” of soil.

When doing this, make sure you are digging

out the root systems of the plants you don’t

want or they will grow back.

Step 5: Replace the soil you

removed with sand until you are

about two inches (half the

thickness of the paver) below the

sod level.

Step 6: Carefully outline the butterfly’s

body and antennas with narrow pavers or

some other type of edging and then fill

the body area with black mulch or

crushed stone. This will provide a

walking path through the butterfly.

Step 7: Using the straight edged

shovel, remove the rest of the sod

that fills the wings of the butterfly

to a depth of 6” to 12”. Loosen

up the soil inside the wings with

either a spade or tiller. This is

also a good time to add any soil

amendments such as compost,

lime, and slow release fertilizer.

Fill the wings with a good garden

soil blend until you are about 2”

from the top of the sod.

Step 8: Outline the wings using

the pavers or some other type of

edging materials. This will give

you a weed control edge for

spraying or mowing. Then bring

the soil level inside the wings up

to the top of the pavers.

Step 9: Plant the butterfly

garden, mulch and keep the

garden watered. Enjoy your

Butterfly, Butterfly Garden!

Butterfly Garden Maintenance:

Once the garden is planted, water it at least once or twice a week depending on rain fall.

Keep the garden weeded. You may have some grass try to creep back into the garden from

the surrounding sod. If this is the case, carefully spot treat with Glyphosate herbicide (ex/

Roundup) (Be careful not to spray it on the plants in the garden as it will kill them.)

Try to use perennials plants as this will reduce purchasing new plants each year.

If you are using transplants, use a pre-emergence weed control like Preen. This will keep

weeds from sprouting in the garden. (It will also keep other seeds from sprouting so use only

with transplants and existing plants).



Butterfly Garden Activity Ideas:

Math: During the creation of this garden, you can teach the students about symmetry as well as using

a grid to transfer information. Graph the number of blooms that are produced by the different plants.

Graph the number and species of butterflies that visit the garden.

Science: Study the life cycle of butterflies as well as learn about the different plants and the parts of a

flower.

Language Arts: Research different species of butterflies and write about butterflies through poetry

and creative writing.

Art: Photograph and draw pictures of the butterflies that visit the garden.

Conservation: Learn about butterfly migration such as the Monarch and how these species are

impacted during their travels. Follow the monarch butterflies’ migration on Journey North

(journeynorth.org).

Literature Connections: From Caterpillar to Butterfly By Deborah Heiligman (ISBN-

10:0590041436) and Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons (ISBN-10:0823409090)

Reference: Butterflies of Alabama by Paulette Ogard (ISBN-10:0817355952)

Alabama Wildlife Federation’s Themed Outdoor Classroom Butterfly Activities:

http://www.alabamawildlife.org/pages/?pageID=121#Butterfly%20Activities

o Pasta Butterfly (Grades: K-2) - Students listen to a story about the life cycle of the butterfly,

act out the life cycle stages, look for the life cycle stages in your outdoor classroom, and create

the life cycle stages on paper plates using pasta and markers.

o Butterfly Book (Grades: 3-5) - Students create a butterfly book where they will keep a journal

of their observations in the butterfly garden in your outdoor classroom site.

o How Many Butterflies (Grades: 3-5) - Students become "butterflies" as they look for one or

more components of butterfly habitat in your outdoor classroom site during this physically-

involved activity.

o Butterflies without Borders (Grades: 6-8) - Students observe butterflies in your outdoor

classroom site while searching for monarch butterflies, track the migration path of the

monarch, and send a "Symbolic Monarch Butterfly" and letter to students in Mexico.

o Bloomin Butterflies (Grades: K-12) - Students collect butterfly eggs or caterpillars in your

outdoor classroom, rear them indoors, and then release the adult butterflies in the outdoor

classroom site.

The Alabama Outdoor Classroom Program is a partnership between:

Alabama Cooperative

Extension System Alabama Wildlife Federation Alabama Department of

Conservation & Natural

Resources

http://www.alabamawildlife.org/pages/?pageID=121#Butterfly%20Activities

EXAMPLE OUTDOOR CLASSROOM PROJECT PLAN: Butterfly, Butterfly Garden

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