Whenuapai School had the problem with their gardens, and with the Ford NZ team of helpers along with a large handful of Variety Club Bashers, a willing workforce was available to get stuck in and make some changes.

The banks of the garden were quite steep with a small concrete block edging.  The edging was not high enough to contain the soil.  To raise the height of the edges, we had to look at planting a low growing hedge as opposed to installing a wooden, timber or stone edge as the concrete in behind the retainer edges was too wide and too unsightly to work with.

The team of workers raced in, took the height out of the bank through hard work on the end of spades and shovels.  Corokias, Emerald ‘n Jade were planted around the edge of the garden as hedging.  Inside the garden, many mainly low growing hardy native plants were used.  The Caretaker removed a cabbage tree and we replanted  smaller ones in the middle of the garden to keep the leaves from falling onto the paths.

Whenuapai School Video.  Watch all the action!

Compost donated by ourselves, and garden mulch donated by New Zealand Landscaping Supplies (NZLS) was used to cover the garden to keep the moisture in and weeds out.

Nicky Leishman from Stihl Shop Silverdale gave the workers a great demonstration of how their latest battery powered tools work.  Ford NZ is also providing the school with a battery operated hedge trimmer supplied by Stihl Shop Silverdale at a great discount.

Then it was on the road again to find some more school kids to bring a big bit of sunshine to…