Our Miracle-Gro’wers Discovery & Learning Journey won the Best Marketing Communication Award at last night’s GIMA Awards.
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company operates a long-term Community Outreach Programme. We are deeply committed to supporting projects that aim to enrich local gardening communities, encouraging people to discover the joys of gardening for themselves and allowing them to take pleasure in the benefits that gardening and horticultural activities bring.
As part of this activity, for the last four years, we have engaged with primary and secondary schools and schoolchildren across the UK to grow the plants for our gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show – the Miracle-Gro’wers Discovery & Learning Garden. More than 100 schools took part this year and, as a result, we encouraged more than 10,000 school pupils to embrace and enjoy gardening and horticulture.
The main aim of the initiative is to encourage children and teenagers to experience and learn from the fulfilling joy of growing plants, and eating the resulting food from the fruit and vegetables grown. The format challenges schoolchildren to grow excellent plants that are up to the demanding standards of the RHS judges at the world’s premier gardening show – they are judged by the same criteria and receive no special treatment from the judges.
Our three gardens were part of the educational Discovery Area and included an educational theme that would help visitors to the show understand some of the fundamental lessons of good gardening. The children conducted experiments with compost, plant food and the environment, so that they could see and measure the differences.
The Miracle-Gro’wers Discovery & Learning Journey encourages schools to use gardening as a teaching tool – implementing it as part of their educational journey, learning the benefits of gardening and using these activities as part of their National Curriculum. Gardening can easily be integrated into the National Curriculum as part of English, maths, science, geography, PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education),history and art among others.
This year, our Miracle-Gro’wers Discovery & Learning Journey gardens won an RHS Silver-Gilt Medal.
Find out more at lovethegarden.com/schools
