The entrance to Cornerstone Christian College in Dunsborough has received a Bay OK garden makeover following the establishment of a water and nutrient wise garden through GeoCatch.
The new garden not only provides an attractive space and welcoming entrance to the school, but also shows the community how gardening in sandy soil can be rewarding and successful.
Principal of Cornerstone Dunsborough, Judy Nolan, is excited by the completed project. “The garden looks amazing! As it grows it’s going to look so nice and will be a place kids will love to go” said Judy.
The new garden has been specially designed to retain sightlines, provide and control access across the site and use quality landscaping. The garden will connect seamlessly to the future landscaping alongside and against the school buildings.
“GeoCatch also incorporated our Woolworths Junior Landcare project into the new garden, creating the opportunity to get students to plant the area around the big old peppermint tree with swordsedge, which will improve its appearance and habitat value to wildlife’ said Judy.
The design for the rest of the site features round spaces amidst planted areas that will be used as outdoor ‘class rooms’.
GeoCatch’s Bay OK Officer Lisa Massey says the landscaping has been installed in line with the three overarching Bay OK gardening principles: nurture the soil, conserve water and enhance biodiversity.
“The most important stage in this project was to firstly improve the soil with applications of clay and compost that will hold moisture and nutrient in the soil so that the plants will benefit, and our waterways will not be impacted by run-off” said Lisa.
“This garden will also not be irrigated after the first summer, so it features native plant species selected for their low water requirement”.
The demonstration Bay OK garden will be visited by the school community and new residents to learn how to garden successfully and responsibly in the region.
GeoCatch’s Bay OK Gardens project supports urban residents to improve water quality in local waterways and Geographe Bay by adopting the Bay OK principles in the garden.
For further information on Bay OK gardening, visit the GeoCatch website geocatch.asn.au
The Bay OK project is part of the Revitalising Geographe Waterways program supported by the State Government to improve water quality, waterway health and management of Geographe waterways.