Parkmore Nursery School plants seeds of community pride at 9th Street and Marie Avenue intersection
Extra agapanthus plants at Parkmore Nursery School have blossomed into a beautiful community project as the school transforms a dusty intersection into a vibrant verge garden.
When you drive past the corner of 9th Street and Marie Avenue in Parkmore, you may notice a burst of purple and green brightening on the roadside.
What was once an ordinary verge is now a flourishing garden of agapanthuses planted by the Parkmore Nursery School team.
Read more: Little ones at Parkmore Nursery spreads festive cheer with Christmas boxes to Kgatonhle Day Care
The school principal, Nancy Turner, said they decided to beautify the community after they found themselves with too many agapanthuses at the school.
“Onwell [Purazeni], our security guard and groundsman, came to me with a problem that he had too many plants. So we decided to adopt the corner at 9th and Marie Avenue and plant our agapanthus. We did it on both sides of the road.
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“We plan that when we need to remove more plants inside the school for space purposes, we will plant them here,” Turner said.
“We’re a community school. We don’t have an owner; we’re a non-profit. Because of that, you know, we have to give back to the community, and the way to give back to the community is either through our outreach programme, which we did last year, or help maintain and keep the suburb at a certain standard.
“I want these agapanthuses to spread some joy and some love to everyone passing by Marie intersection. Because flowers and gardens make everybody smile and happy.”
For Purazeni, security guard, maintenance handman and now community gardener, the initiative has been a labour of love.
Also read: Getting your little one nursery school ready
“We’ve got lots of flowers at Parkmore Nursery School, so we decided to come and plant some of the agapanthus here in the park to make our community look better. It’s a good thing to improve our community so that it looks good. I’m happy with that, and I like my job,” Purazeni said.
Turner appeals to the residents who are renovating or upgrading their gardens to not throw the plants away, but invest in beautifying the public spaces.
“Let’s all chip in. And when people are renovating their gardens or doing an upgrade in their gardens, let’s put it back into the community. Let’s make those public spaces, not just a dust bowl, but something nice and to be proud of,” she said.
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