Local News

Children’s floral designs come to life in People’s Park

16/06/2023

300 children from 13 schools created living landscapes

Pupils from Banbury’s primary schools turned empty flower beds in People’s Park into a sea of colour this week.

The annual Planting in the Park competition saw more than 300 boys and girls from 13 schools transform the flower beds into living landscapes that reflected the theme of King Charles’ Coronation.

Planting Day, organised annually by Banbury Town Council, encourages young people to develop an interest in nature and horticulture.

On Wednesday and Thursday pupils with trowels, forks and dibbers used nearly 3000 plants as they turned their flower beds into colourful scenes that showed imagination and flair – and brought back memories of King Charles’ coronation celebrations.

Mayor Fiaz Ahmed, one of the competition judges, said: “This is an extremely worthwhile event and the number of pupils taking part demonstrates how popular it is. Their enthusiasm was amazing. Everyone had a great day and learned a lot about nature. They can visit the park throughout the summer to see how their flower beds progress.”

Fellow judge Paul Almond, the council’s director of environment, said: “I must congratulate the schools on their imagination and their energy. Choosing a winner was very difficult. The flower beds and centre pieces were all of an extremely high standard.”