Gardening and composting

Learn about composting, growing food or basic gardening skills.

Experiences

We have three exciting gardening programmes to choose from depending on your focus and the age of your students.

Green Waste to Garden Gold

This programme is suitable for years 4-8. It focuses on how forests are the ultimate recyclers!

After a walk in the forest to see how nature recycles, students learn about:

• the nutrient cycle
• the role of decomposers
• how we can all turn waste into compost for our gardens.

Students will:

• explore the worm farm
• assemble a compost bin
• learn the art of layering compost
• try making compost themselves.

Create your own Garden

This programme is suitable for years 0-6. Students learn about the wonders of gardening through a range of hands-on activities in our children's garden.

Using a variety of tools, they will:

• prepare and mulch A layer of material like bark, leaves or grass clippings spread on top of soil to keep it moist and reduce weeds. the soil
• plant and water the garden
• clean up afterwards.

They will also:

• prepare seeds for germination
• discover the secrets of successful seedlings
• examine and feed the worms in the worm farm.

Along the way, students will:

• become familiar with the life-cycle of plants
• find out what plants need to survive
• learn to create and maintain a garden.

Patch to Plate

This programme is suitable for years 0-4. The aim is to get students to 'dig' their veggies, in every sense of the word!

Students learn about:

• the various parts of plants we eat, for example, that carrots are roots and cabbages are leaves
• the plant 'heroes' that make up our everyday foods.

Students then get an opportunity to enjoy and learn the basics of growing veggies and planting their own seeds to take away with them.

Year level

Years 0-8

Learning areas

​Science Living World

Maximum students

100 students

Location

Auckland Botanic Gardens

Available dates

All year

Cost

Half-day programme: $7 per student

Contact details

Email: botanicgardens.schoolbookings@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Address

Auckland Botanical Gardens
102 Hill Road
The Gardens
Auckland
Manurewa

Directions: Show map