Given how busy teachers are this time of year, the closing date for the Victorian Schools Garden Awards has been extended until Thursday 22nd September.

Applications are now open!

The Awards program recognises and rewards the achievements of students and school communities in their school gardens.

With 10 categories to enter and $44,000 worth of prizes to be won, we encourage any school with a garden program to enter.

All entries are automatically entered into the Regional Awards from which the State and Kevin Heinze Perpetual Awards are chosen.

Learn more or submit your entry via the VSGP website – entries close Friday 9th September.

This year’s VSGP Grants Program received over 395 grant entries from 185 schools/kindergartens across Victoria. The standard of entries was extremely high and it was not an easy task for our committee to pick the winners.

Of the 69 successful grant recipients, 52 will receive nursery vouchers worth $500 or $1,000, and 17 will receive garden products to the value of $500 – $4,500 to include in their garden projects.

The purpose of the VSGP Grants program is to provide seed funding to schools/kindergartens to establish new gardens or repair existing gardens. Establishing and/or expanding the green environment, not only improves the aesthetic appearance but can make an exciting outside learning environment with greater benefits to student health and well-being. Involving students in the process helps them to take ownership, pride and care of the space, while providing a connection to nature.

We would like to thank all our Grant sponsors for providing the successful schools with the opportunity to undertake their proposed garden projects and make their grounds greener.

Click here for the 2022 VSGP Grants Results

A record number of schools and kindergartens took up the offer of a free excursion at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.

Over the three school days (Wednesday to Friday) 1400 students from 39 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools visited the show to view the gardens and part take in the various activities throughout the show.

The Victorian Schools Garden Program marquee was very busy with children potting lettuce varieties with the help of the amazing Royal Botanic Garden Melbourne volunteers. While the Rotarian for Bees educated attendees on the importance of pollinators and Urban Plant Health Network taught visitors how to spot and identify pests in the garden.

The observation beehive provided by the Wheen Bee Foundation was a huge hit with children. They provided a fascinating insight on the workings of a hive.

A big thank you to our planting activity sponsors:

• Takasho – for the VegTrugs where all the planting took place. Apply for the Takasho VegTrug Package Grant to win your own.
• Grow Better – for providing the Premium Potting Mix 
• Quality Plants and Seedlings –  for donating the 3400 lettuce seedling varieties. Apply for the Quality Plant & Seedling – Spring Seedling Package Grant.
• PP5 – for the supply of the recyclable plant pots

On the 1st of March the VSGP’s Grants and Awards programs were launched and are now open for entries.

The two programs will distribute a combined $80,000 worth of vouchers and products to Victorian schools this year .

For more information on the categories and prizes in each program please visit the VSGP website.

The Victorian Schools Garden Program would like to thank our 2022 sponsors, as we couldn’t continue to provide schools with grants and award prizes if it wasn’t for their support.