Abby Singh learned how to sheet mulch, along with her entire 6th grade class, at Ardenwood Elementary School in Fremont through StopWaste’s Bay-Friendly Action Project. Over the last six years, the students have sheet mulched over 6,000 sq. ft. of the school lawn.
When StopWaste’s school team invited students to get their families on board with sheet mulching, Abby jumped at the chance. One of the Singh’s neighbors teaches at Ardenwood and sheet mulched her lawn into a garden a year earlier with the help of her students. Her beautiful Bay-Friendly garden, just a few blocks from the Singh’s, was one inspiration, and Abby’s enthusiasm and experience sheet mulching the lawns at school was the other. Not only did Abby convince her family to sheet mulch their own lawn, they also decided to invite the community over to help so that more people could learn about lawn conversion.
In October 2015, fellow Ardenwood students, neighbors, and community members converged on the Singh’s front lawn to sheet mulch and plant. Fremont based Bay-Friendly Designer Ann Morrison of Chrysalis Gardens supplied the design and technical assistance on irrigation retrofit. The Singh family received a lawn conversion rebate from the state – through Proposition 1.
