Young ‘green thumbs’ get Waterwise

Students from Pakenham Consolidated Primary School will officially launch their new Waterwise garden makeover on Tuesday 10 June, one of six new gardens presented to winning Victorian schools by Peet Limited.

The competition, designed to raise awareness of water conservation, received an impressive response with nearly 2,000 Victorian students across 23 schools participating.

Peet Limited uses water sensitive designs in all its estates, including local estate Cardinia Lakes.

The top three entries from each of the participating schools were put through their paces by the guest judges Melissa King, of Channel Nine's Garden Gurus and Darren Atkinson, President of the Landscape Architects Institute.

The six winning schools are in the final stages of garden makeovers, with students gaining a unique opportunity to contribute hands on with the planting of native, low maintenance, water wise shrubs and grasses.

Peet is a leading national diversified property company – an asset manager, land syndicator and property fund manager that has been trading continuously for more than 110 years.

Peet’s environmentally sensitive developments have earned more than 20 awards from organisations such as HIA GreenSmart, the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA), the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA), Greening Australia, Landcare and Waterwise during the past decade.

Peet Managing Director Brendan Gore said the competition fostered the education and awareness of sustainable designs for water conservation.

“By giving younger generations the opportunity to research, design and gain feedback on their designs and watch the project come to fruition, we aim to inspire students to be conscious of the environment and the difference that they can make,” said Mr Gore.