College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences
Unisa wins platinum at 2017 Garden World Festival
Unisa has won a platinum award at the 2017 Garden World Festival. Each year, students volunteer to assist College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) staff with the construction and design of a landscaped garden according to the annual theme set by the exhibition organisers.
The winning team!
Students involved in the design, layout and construction of these show gardens have gained excellent hands-on experience, which counts towards their WIL requirements. These show garden projects have also given students an opportunity to interact with potential employers in the green industry.
This year’s garden show is taking place from 28 July to 3 September 2017 and Unisa’s departments of Environmental Sciences and Horticulture academics and students have, again, participated in the planning, design and development of a show garden. The theme for the 2017 Garden Show is ‘Colour my World’ and the garden that Unisa showcased is titled is ‘De-stress Hour’.
The main feature highlighted in this garden is the garden mural on the wall that will bring about visual calming effect. The sound of the running water creates a relaxing atmosphere. A colourful, low water requirement zone welcomes you into the garden and leads the eye to a space where you can de-stress.
The main feature highlighted in this garden is the garden mural on the wall that will bring about visual calming effect. The sound of the running water creates a relaxing atmosphere. A colourful, low water requirement zone welcomes you into the garden and leads the eye to a space where you can de-stress.
This theme was inspired by the office environment, which lacks mental stimulation because of an overwhelming workload and little exposure to nature. This garden introduces the concept of how the environment can help calm and ease stress for employees by just spending an hour in the garden.
The Garden World Spring Festival is now open for the public to view at Garden World in Mudersdrift. The designers taking part were young and old from the industry, and out of the eighteen gardens constructed, Unisa received the highest achievement, which is a platinum award. The design is also featured in Home and Tuis magazines (August 2017 issues).
For the past 23 years, Garden World has hosted the annual Spring Festival featuring landscaped gardens, floral displays, musical entertainment, talks, workshops, exhibitions, media reader’s days, radio listener’s days, television viewer’s days etc.
Unisa has participated in the spring festival by building exhibition gardens for the past 14 years. Unisa and its students have competed, very successfully, in this competition with Tshwane University of Technology, North West University and large landscaping firms (national and international). CAES also offers a Diploma in Horticulture.
See more images below:
De-stress garden
Office space
*Compiled by Kirosha Naicker and Asavela Yashe
Publish date: 2017/08/16
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