Glynn Primary now home to Province’s greenest garden

GLYNN Primary School can boast the greenest garden in the country.

Environment Minister Alex Attwood attended last week to officially present the modular garden - worms and all- which was won in a prize draw.

The innovative Rethink Waste Garden was displayed at the Hillsborough Garden Show in May. It is based on the theme of Rethink Gardening for Life and Living and was designed to be beneficial to the environment through use of recycled materials and wildlife-friendly planting, while being an example of a contemporary modular garden which can be replicated in any space.

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It features compost bins and a wormery to help improve understanding of where food comes from and how food waste can be recycled by the worms.

In keeping with the recycling theme, the garden was offered to schools in a prize draw and Glynn PS was chosen from more than 300 entries.

Mr Attwood encouraged the young gardeners to look after the worms and all the other creatures that are so important to gardens. He said: “This is a fantastic prize, which I am delighted to hand over to Glynn Primary School. It will help encourage this school community to really think about where their food comes from and it can be used to help the school gain its International Green Flag under the Eco-Schools Programme.”

He added: “DoE is about making Northern Ireland a better place to live, work and invest in and this garden will enable these young people to gain important skills and knowledge about reusing materials, biodiversity and healthy eating.”

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The garden includes a raised bed containing edible plants (both vegetables and flowers), additional flowering plants and trees to attract beneficial insects and pollinators, especially bees, and also vertical planters, a pond and various climbing plants. I includes a wormery, tumbling composter and two sheds for storage and demonstrations.

Glynn Primary School has just registered with the DoE-funded international Eco-Schools Programme and the presence of the garden will assist their participation in the programme. The Eco-Schools Green Flag has been awarded to 210 Northern Ireland schools in recognition of high achievement in the programme.