Room 1's Garden Project at Mountview School

Written By Kim Manunui

We had lots of fun helping out Whaea Jess and Room 1 at Mountview Primary School with their garden project. They were the lucky recipients of funding from our Contact Energy Take Action Fund earlier in the year. Due to lockdown stopping everything in Term 3, they now had a short time to get the garden project underway. We were excited to come in and help

We started with a visit to explain what Kids Greening Taupō is and what we do. We had a great discussion about the word ‘biodiversity’ and what it means. We also had a good kōrero around how important native plants are to provide kai and habitat for our native species of birds, bugs and lizards. It turned out that Room 1 were already experts in this concept after visiting the Trout Centre and learning about whio in the Taupō for Tomorrow programme.

We headed out to different places in the school grounds and did bird counts. This is when we discovered the kōwhai tree full of tui. The tamariki decided that they wanted to plant more native plants at school to bring more native birds, bugs and lizards to the school grounds.

Local ecologist, Alana Delich came in to speak to the class with Rachel (Kids Greening Taupō coordinator). Rachel brought in lots of native plant species and the tamariki asked Alana and Rachel questions about them. They found out which ones had berries or flowers that would attract native birds, and which ones were a good habitat for lizards or bugs. They also asked about how big they would grow and what kind of growing conditions they liked.

Next the tamariki walked around the school and looked at the plants in the existing gardens. They liked the gardens with plants of different sizes and decided that they wanted ground covers, shrubs and trees in their gardens. They also wanted ones with flowers to attract butterflies and other bugs, and berries for birds.

The class researched the different species, made plans for the garden, wrote emails requesting the plants that they had chosen, measured the garden, and researched what the plants would need to grow well. They asked Mingo, the caretaker to put in a watering system and they ordered plants.

Then the fun began! We all pitched in to weed the garden. It was hard work and Mingo and Tākoha broke two spades trying to dig out the big yucca! Then we put on masks and spread compost and soil to prepare the gardens. We sorted the plants and decided where to place them to make patterns in the garden. The tamariki decided to get whauwhaupaku and makomako for the birds, putaputaweta for the bugs (wēta and puriri moths), and wirey muhlenbeckia astonii (shrubby tororaro) and carex for lizards, and hebes for the butterflies.

After a planting demonstration we all got in and started planting. The gardens look amazing! Our next step is to mulch.

Room 1 can’t wait to see the plants grow and see the biodiversity at their school increase!

 

BEFORE

AFTER

Thank you to the Kids Greening Taupō Contact Energy Take Action Fund for making this project possible!

Kim Manunui

Hi, I’m Kim and I work with a great team to help individuals, as well as small and not so small businesses get their message, product and services to the world using digital media and creating wonderful websites that don’t cost the earth.

I was born in Canada, and grew up around Vancouver and the mountains of British Columbia. My love of pristine environments led me to New Zealand and eventually to the mountains, lakes and rivers of the central North Island which is home. My family’s heritage is here, and it’s from here that Korio traverses the planet.

The digital world is never static and neither are we.

And I say ‘we’ because I work with an awesome group of talented people who I gather together as required to complete a project.  Whatever your business, not-for-profit or individual needs are we gather the best team to get the job done.

Collaboratively we are creative, share sustainable values and work hard for great outcomes because that’s the buzz of satisfaction that drives us.

If you have an audience and market to reach, we can make that happen. Creative design, words that work and smart behind the scenes stuff that cuts through the online noise. We’ll design your website and then build it. We’ll manage the content as well as all your hosting needs. We can handle your online advertising so you get noticed,
and we’ll manage your social media presence so you get the clicks, likes and engagement to grow your business. All within the budget you set, because none of this needs to cost the earth.  And the job doesn’t stop when your website goes live. We are your virtual business partner.

https://www.korio.co.nz
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Farewell to Sian Moffitt who has spent 7yrs as part of the Kids Greening Taupō programme
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