Environment 

During Term 4 our Grade 5's are working hard to plant and water a number of plants that have been patiently waiting while the school was in lock-down. 

To give the plants the best chance of survival we have been placing a water bottle next to each plant once or twice a day. 

A small hole has been drilled into the bottle and the water slowly runs out providing a slow trickle - perfect for watering ! 

Students have developed this design after trial and error and are pleased with the effectiveness of this 'device' made from old milk bottles. 

Look out for the bottles and feel free to fill one and place it next to a plant if it looks like it needs a drink !

Karen has been working in the garden to help with the planting. Her work has been much appreciated as we are planting much later than we normally would due to Covid-19 upsetting our plans ! Thank you Karen for all the work you've done to give the plants the best chance possible. Say hi to Karen when you next see her and read on to find out more about her work. 

Introducing Karen -  Our Gardener 

I have always loved digging in the garden and growing plants so when I grew up, after learning how to be an art teacher and many other adventures, I studied Horticulture. 

              While studying, I ran my own gardening business but then I was lucky enough to get a job as a gardener at Melbourne Zoo in 2000. I worked in the Japanese Garden and the Main Drive back in the days when we had two displays of colourful annual planting designs each year. 

              My twin babies kept me away from work for a little while, but I soon returned to the zoo where I was able to combine my art/design skills with my gardening and I started to draw up concept designs for gardens, new and refurbished exhibits and do research for other projects. The latest project was bringing Dinosaurs to the Zoo! I am involved in keeping the zoo’s archives and love researching its 158-year history. 

              When my babies grew a bit more and went to primary school, I became involved in gardening and teaching in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program there even when my much bigger babies went to high school. 

              In 2021 my twins will be in year 12. I still work at Melbourne Zoo and enjoy gardening at Boroondara Park PS. With the help of the KGT and Ms Claire Ballot, we are planting more habitat plants for the local wildlife around the school grounds. Last year the OSHC garden bed was renovated. 

This long year has kept me away from BPPS for a while but I’m very happy to be back in the gardens here! This pair of Galahs visited me yesterday in the front entrance garden, as did this tiny hover fly. 

Plants and animals – we can’t live without them!