Victorian Schools Garden Program

Every school a garden, every garden a classroom.

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VSGP Brings Nature Play & Gardening Experiences to Life at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show

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The Victorian Schools Garden Program was proud to be part of the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, delivering five days of hands-on, nature-based experiences for families. 

The Wildplace Garden (designed by Urban Discovery for the VSGP) where children and adults alike were fully immersed in play. Visitors could be seen exploring, building, and engaging with natural materials, embracing the joy and creativity that outdoor environments inspire. It was a powerful reminder of the importance of unstructured play and connection to nature for all ages.

Over 3,500 children potted their own seedlings and created personalised plant labels, taking home both their plants and a sense of pride in growing something themselves.

Alongside this, Agriculture Victoria encouraged visitors to join the Great Biosecurity Quest and become Watchout Warriors by reporting garden pests via the iNaturalist app. Zoos Victoria shared the story of the Golden-rayed blue butterfly, highlighting how planting the right species can support conservation, while the Foodcube display inspired visitors to see how edible gardens can thrive in any space

Visitors also enjoyed the Sustainable Scarecrow Competition, featuring imaginative ‘Habitat Farmer’ entries from schools and kindergartens across Victoria, with many casting votes for their favourite designs. 

 

(You can view the winning scarecrows on the VSGP website latest news page ).

The Wildplace was a vibrant  celebration of gardening, creativity and community, with families leaving inspired, more connected to the natural world, and motivated to find or create their own wild places.

Thank you to the VSGP planting activity sponsors:

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria for their wonderfully enthusiastic volunteers who helped children pot their seedlings.

Quality Plants & Seedlings generously grew over 4,000 seedlings for children to plant.

Grow Better supplied their ‘Premium Compost Soil’ – perfect for growing produce and safe for little hands.
Garden City Plastics provided 4,000 environmentally friendly, PP5 recyclable pots.

Takasho for the use of their VegTrugs – sturdy raise planters in which 3500 seedlings were potted from. 

Plantfulness for their generous donation of children’s gardening gloves, helping even the most dirt-shy participants get involved, and encouraging a love of gardening that can continue at home.

Victorian Students Bring ‘Habitat Farmers’ to Life in Sustainable Scarecrow Competition

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The 2026 Sustainable Scarecrow Competition has highlighted the creativity and environmental awareness of Victorian students, with finalists selected by the Minister for Agriculture, Ros Spence MP.

This year, 42 schools and kindergartens took part, embracing the theme ‘Habitat Farmer’, the helpful visitors to the garden protecting the habitats that they live in and teaching others about how to create habitats in and around the garden. Their imaginative, eco-friendly scarecrows were showcased at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, impressing visitors with their innovation and strong sustainability messages.

Winners:

🥇 Grange College – “Native Nat the Bird Friendly Mate” (1st place, $1000 voucher)

Nursery & Garden Industry President, Carl Soderlund and Agriculture Minister Ros Spence.

🥈 Dean Marsh Primary School – “Swampy” (2nd place, $750 voucher)

 

Nursery & Garden Industry President, Carl Soderlund and Agriculture Minister Ros Spence.

🥉 Toorak College Junior School – “Ivy” (3rd place, $500 voucher)

 

Nursery & Garden Industry President, Carl Soderlund and Agriculture Minister Ros Spence.

People’s Choice Winner:   

🥇 Spotswood Primary School – “Lid-ia” 

VSGP Chairman Craig Taberner and Rory Clarke, Landscape Designer – Urban Discovery

2026 Grants Program – APPLY NOW

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The VSGP Grants Program encourages schools to start new gardens or repair existing gardens by providing funding through nursery vouchers or provision of products to use for school garden projects.

This year there is $60,000 worth of vouchers and products to be distributed through 21 grant categories.

Applications are now open and close on Friday 25 April 2026 at 5 pm.

48th Annual VSGP Awards Celebration

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Today, in the Oak Lawns at the Royal Botanic Gardens, more than 451 students, teachers and parents from 35 Victorian schools, gathered to celebrate school gardening achievements and share the joy of learning through gardens.

The top prize, the Kevin Heinze Perpetual Award went to Montmorency South Primary School, where all 615 students help create and care for gardens spanning a productive, orchard-and-chooks – kitchen garden, bush tucker, native and pollinator plantings, and a bush reserve restoring habitat for local sugar gliders. Students lead the full gardening cycle, with produce feeding into their kitchen garden program and learning from all gardens embedded across the curriculum.

Kevin Heinze Perpetual Award receipts - Montmorency South PS 1
From left:  Emma Katsalidis – teacher & garden guru, Nina Taylor – Parliamentary Secretary of Education, Paul Crowe OAM – VSGP Co-founder and Patron, and Montmorency South Primary School students. 

In a very close second, State Award finalist Wendouree Primary School was recognised for outstanding, student-driven biodiversity work on its Ballarat grounds, including the planting of more than 1,200 native trees, shrubs and grasses and the creation of rich habitat spaces such as wetlands, frog bogs, nature trails and bush tucker gardens. Their work also supports other schools through shared resources and expertise. Third place State Award finalist, Collingwood College, was celebrated for its long-running kitchen garden program, now in its 24th year, continuing to build student leadership, wellbeing and strong curriculum links in a diverse inner-city community.

Nina Taylor – Parliamentary Secretary of Education with State Finalist, Wendouree Primary School students. 
Nina Taylor – Parliamentary Secretary of Education with State Finalist, Collingwood College.

The VSGP is proud of every school that entered this year’s Awards and encouraged by the growing recognition of gardens as powerful spaces for learning, health and wellbeing. We invite all schools in 2026 to consider starting or expanding a garden project: even the smallest patch can make a big difference.

Finally, the VSGP sincerely thanks our 2025 sponsors for their generous support, helping inspire the next generation of gardeners and enabling schools to grow, learn and thrive through their garden programs.

Click here to see 2025 VSGP Award Results

Principals’ Breakfast at Kuranga Native Nursery

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It was a beautiful morning in picturesque Mount Evelyn as school leaders gathered at Kuranga Native Nursery for this year’s Principals’ Breakfast.

The nursery and surrounding gardens set the perfect scene to share ideas about: 

  • Creating real-world learning outcomes in garden program
  • Using gardens to help students from all backgrounds connect and collaborate
  • Empowering students to design and care for their own spaces
  • Building networks – from sharing seeds to visiting other school gardens

Special guest Costa Georgiadis brought his trademark passion and energy, reminding us that patience is essential in the garden and in education, ‘You won’t get everyone the first time. If not through food, try biodiversity, invertebrates, a bird count, fabrics and fibres, pollinators – plants are powerful’. His message encouraged attendees to think broadly about the possibilities gardens offer, sparking fresh approaches to engaging students..

Costa shared a project idea everyone loved: preps planting sunflowers at the school entrance, timed to bloom just as the new preps arrive. It was a simple but powerful way to connect students, create a sense of welcome, and celebrate growth.

The morning also celebrated school garden specialists and the announcement of the School Garden Champion, Marilyn Battour from Karingal Primary School. Much to her surprise, Marilyn was recognised for her dedicated volunteer work in creating a thriving community garden for outdoor learning at her grandchildren’s school. Her vision and commitment have continued to expand, inspiring further garden projects throughout the school grounds.h.

All attendees, principals and garden specialists alike, departed the breakfast with new connections, fresh ideas and renewed enthusiasm to grow their own school gardens and strengthen community ties.

Contact us

Tania Karamitos
Program Co-ordinator
Victorian Schools Garden Awards
Phone: 03 9576 0599
Fax: 03 9576 0431
Email: vsgp@ngiv.com.au