Laying the foundation

Residents of Pearl Retirement Resort have started to refurbish their wonderful Community Garden, and it’s a success story of environmentally friendly gardening.

Enthusiastic residents Russ and Frank have been integral in getting the project off the ground, which includes using old refrigerators that were refurbished by the Darwin Men’s Shed (Nightcliff branch) for the new planter boxes. On top of recycling, the idea for these planter boxes is to have raised garden beds so residents of nearby Pearl Supported Care can access them. 

The fridges are made up of two compartments, the large compartment is for planting fruit and veg and the small compartment is for aromatic flowers designed to trigger positive memories for supported care residents.

The planter boxes were also refurbished into wicking beds, which water from the bottom up to reduce water usage. Russ and Frank also allocated a small fridge compartment each to the garden. Other residents have planted a beautiful range of flowers in the compartments, to help compliment the Community Garden.