Category: News

News from David Domoney. David is a Chartered Horticulturalist with over 40 years of experience growing and caring for plants. David has also worked on UK national television for over 2 decades. As a garden designer, David has won over 30 RHS medals for his garden designs at leading UK gardening shows and events.

Campaign for school gardens: Get your grown-ups growing

The Get Your Grown-ups Growing (GYGG) initiative has launched for the second year, and I’m delighted to be a part of it. This year I’m going to visit one of the events to meet the teachers, pupils and grown-ups.

I’m a proud supporter of the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, and I believe every child should have access to a garden. Read my article on the importance of gardening for children here.

What is GYGG?

Get Your Grown-ups Growing is a fantastic campaign to involve adults from the local community (including parents, carers, grandparents, friends) in the school garden. Grown-ups can help build new beds, sow seeds and plant bulbs, or even take part in fundraising events and fruit and veg tastings.

For schools that do not already have a school garden, extra help from the grown-ups could help to establish new gardening facilities.

How do I get involved?

The events are held in October, but schools can sign up now and start making plans. The RHS has 3000 GYGG packs to send out in September, including free seeds, stickers and posters. Register here.

I had great fun meeting staff and pupils at Cranberry Academy, who had won GYGG 2013. I presented them with their prize: a Hartley Botanic Wisley 8 greenhouse worth a whopping £4000. Another greenhouse is up for grabs for the best event this year too, so get planning now!

Last year over 1900 schools across the UK got their grown-ups growing. I hope even more schools (and grown-ups) will join in this year. Find out how to get involved here.
May 9, 2014
Visiting school gardening winners Cranberry Academy

Cranberry Academy in Cheshire has been awarded the title of ‘most inspiring event’ as part of the ‘Get Your Grown-ups Growing’ campaign run by the RHS Campaign for School Gardening.

And I had the honour of presenting them with their prize on 1 May: a fantastic Hartley Botanic Wisley 8 greenhouse worth £4000!

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Scarecrows made by Cranberry Academy pupils

Get Your Grown-ups Growing is a great initiative for school gardening. Throughout October, schools invite parents, grandparents, carers, friends and members of the local community to help pupils in the garden.

Cranberry Academy made the event extra special. They devoted a whole week to gardening, and challenged each class to design the best scarecrow, wind chime, insect house and recycled planter.

When the grown-ups came along, they helped pupils build two new raised beds and plant 100 spring bulbs, 100 onion sets and sow over 30 pea plants!

The academy now hopes to use the greenhouse to focus on edible gardening. Teaching assistant Jane Sawdon said the school wanted all children to know how to sow, grow, harvest and cook their own food.

The school also plans to install water butts and compost bins, and plant potatoes, vegetables, soft fruit shrubs and a 14 tree fruit orchard.

It’s fantastic to see so many children getting inspired by gardening, and to see parents, relatives and the local community pitching in to help out.

Last year over 1900 schools joined the Get Your Grown-ups Growing campaign. This year’s campaign launched on Thursday 1 May, and I hope even more schools will take part in such a fantastic initiative.

To find out how to get involved, click here.

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April 28, 2014
Cultivation Street campaign – news and changes to applications

Thank you to everyone who has already joined our campaign for front gardens! We have been overwhelmed by your support and hope to make this year’s campaign even bigger and better than before!

News

This year, we’ve made it easier than ever to enter the competition. You don’t need to wait until your front gardens are perfect – simply submit an application now and keep us up-to-date with your progress!

You can update your application at any point. Choose a sub-category and add more neighbouring gardens to the mix. Or tell the judges more about your street and why you deserve to win. It’s a great opportunity for schools to show the children making progress in the garden.

Submit your application here and get your free starter pack!

Photos

You can also add photos of your street throughout the seasons. It’s a good idea to take before, during and after pictures of your street too. Not only does it show the judges all your hard work, it gives you a record of your progress and shows what a difference you’ve made!

Remember – you will need to submit this information before the closing date to be considered for judging!

Got a question or need more information? Contact our campaign team here!

Starter Pack

When you submit your Cultivation Street application, you’ll receive our free starter pack email. It’s packed full of useful information, including David’s top tips on getting started, hints about what the judges will be looking for.

You should also sign up for our monthly newsletter to get our latest gardening guides and campaign news direct to your inbox. Plus, keep an eye out for our exclusive offers. Don’t miss out!

Submit your application here and get your free starter pack!

Spread the word

Get everyone involved in the campaign and let’s make Britain a nicer place to live! Tell your friends, family, neighbours, colleagues – anyone and everyone!

Together, we can make a real difference.
April 5, 2014