| I´m not sure whether your plan is feasible, since planting something virtually maintenance free and able to choke down weeds is quite difficult to achieve. One option for you, and since this is a school, is to use it as an opportunity to teach the kids something. Maybe what you could do was: 1 - Remove any plants planted that you want to keep 2 - Lay down lots of newspaper and cardboard and build a type of lasagna garden bed. There is a forum specifically for this method and there is also an interesting discussion of it in the cottage gardens forum. The kids could bring the newspaper and cardboard from home and help build the layers. This would also offer the biology teachers the chance to teach them a bit how Mother Nature works. 3 - Once the bed is ready, replant the plants you saved and add other easy care ones. Options for your warm climate are succulents, cacti and ornamental grasses. Maybe each kid could donate a plant (don´t know how many kids there are in the school and the size of the beds), according to the directives you set. This wouldn´t cost much for the families but would give the kids a sense of ownership they will lack if you just get the plants from a garden centre. They will then be able to track the progress of his/her own plant, as well as the others. 4 - Prepare to have at least minimum care during the Summer holidays, otherwise this would just be a waste a time. Isn´t there a janitor or security officer who might be able to water? If this is not the case, consider investing in a watering system which can be operated by a small programmable computer. If you use easy care plants like I mentioned above you should be able to get away with it for a couple of months without much care anyway. I don´t know if I´ve helped, but this is how I would approach the project, if it was mine. Eduarda | 
