School gardeners celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Discover how two groups have been using their gardens to mark the event.

01 June 2022

Schools and groups across the country having been gearing up to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee in their gardens. From purple planting, to tea parties and open days, gardens are coming to life and connecting communities. We spoke to two groups who have put the celebrations at the heart of their gardening projects.

Creating a garden fit for wildlife royalty

In Hertfordshire, pupils and staff at Thundridge C of E Primary School have spent the last few months creating their new school garden. Now bursting with everything from wildflowers to exotic shark-finned squash, the school’s 75 pupils have been busy preparing for a Platinum Jubilee plant sale.

Excited to show the community around their new garden, the plant sale won’t be the only crowd pleaser that day. Fit for insect royalty, their ‘Buckingham Palace Bug House’ takes pride of place in the garden. Constructed from five salvage drawers, each year group has foraged for natural and recycled materials to create a cosy home for ladybirds, snails and beetles. To attract pollinators into the garden, pupils have also made ‘Queen Bee Flower Bombs’ using clay, soil and wildflower seeds. These along with newly planted red, white and blue flowers such as gypsophilia, cornflowers and sweet peas will make the garden a pollen paradise for any bees and hoverflies that visit.

With students participating in weekly two-hour gardening sessions, outdoor learning is now a key part of their education, and the school are looking forward to introducing new projects to their space over the coming months.

Visit their website to follow their progress.

Getting together to paint the garden purple

Kamelia Kids Day Nursery and Beach School in Worthing, celebrated the Platinum Jubilee with their 170 children and nursery community by holding a garden get-together. Decked out with bunting and flags, the children proudly showed their visitors around the Wellbeing and Sensory garden, which is home to a storytelling chair. New purple planting features throughout the space and the visitors loved discovering the different herbs the children have been planting alongside these, including rosemary, dill, parsley and spearmint.

A new boat, painted purple to fit the theme, takes pride of place in Kamelia Kids’ Wildlife and Beach Garden, which also features hanging baskets filled with strawberry plants, a butterfly bush and bug hotel. Keen to create a space that the children can enjoy nature throughout the seasons, they have also added a small beach hut to provide shelter for outdoor learning activities.

Whilst enjoying the party and their cake, visitors were thrilled to see the reveal of the new Kamelia Kids Community Garden – featuring three large raised beds that are being used to grow vegetables. The children have been busy getting their hands muddy and currently have cauliflower, potatoes, leeks, garlic, and runner beans on their way to producing a bountiful harvest. Enjoying the garden as a community for the Jubilee has been a real joy for the children and staff at Kamelia Kids, and they are exciting to keep their neighbours and families involved with future gardening activities.

Visit their website to keep up to date with their projects.

Get in touch

If you’ve got a gardening project you’d like to share, get in touch to tell us more about your highlights and challenges.