Auckland School Kids Named As Horticultural Heroes

A Mt Albert primary school that developed gardens to combat an ongoing issue with vandalism is a regional finalist in the school garden category of NZ Gardener’s 2011 Gardener of the Year Awards.

When the 350 kids at Owairaka’s school began establishing gardens, the vandalism problem virtually disappeared. Principal Diana Tregoweth attributes the development to the pride that the students and the local community now have in the beautiful spaces they have created.

As well as kitchen and orchard gardens for growing edibles, the school boosts an Indian garden, planted with brightly coloured flowers to represent the dazzling colours of saris and with a backdrop of the Taj Mahal. It was built earlier this year, after Year 5 and 6 pupils applied for funding and visited the Hamilton Gardens for design ideas. When it came to the Zen garden, also added this year, the pupils researched the theory of Zen design – the garden plan they came up with contains the elements of wood, fire, earth, water and metal and the kids like to draw patterns on its sandy floor.

There’s also a Pou garden on site, in which pupils and parents from different immigrant groups designed and painted pou, like totem poles, to represent their cultures. There’s a Rongoa garden too containing native plants that are used in Maori medicine.

Each class has its own environmental project: one is responsible for the chicken garden, minding the school chooks and growing food the hens like to eat. The junior classes are responsible for the butterfly garden, full of flowers to attract these beautiful, useful insects.

“This is the first year we’ve had a category for school gardens in our annual Gardener of the Year awards,” says NZ Gardener’s Editor Jo McCarroll. “And the response has been incredible. But even among the hundreds of schools which were nominated, Owairaka stood out. It’s great to see how the kids are involved at every level, from planning, creating to maintaining the spaces. And there are so many cool garden spaces there that benefit everyone in the area! One of the parents told us that the area doesn’t have many parks which makes the school grounds really important to the community.”

The story of Owairaka’s school gardens – along with the stories of the other two school garden finalists and the finalists in the regional and community garden categories – is in the magazine’s November issue, on sale on October 31. Winners in the 2011 Gardener of the Year competition, in association with Kiwicare Garden Products, will be decided by public vote: full instructions on how to vote are in the November issue or on the magazine’s website (www.nzgardener.co.nz).

The overall winner of the school garden category will win $1000 of Mitre 10 vouchers and $1000 worth of Kiwicare Garden products. The overall winner of Gardener of the Year, chosen from the regional finalists, will be named the 2011 Gardener of the Year and receive $3000 of Mitre 10 vouchers, a year’s supply of Kiwicare Garden Products and a luxury trip for two to the 2012 Ellerslie Flower Show in Christchurch.

Voting for the supreme winners of NZ Gardener’s 2011 Gardener of the Year Awards closes 30 November and the winners will be announced on 19 December.