Jessica cultivates a cultural setting

A HAMPTON Park horticulture student has received an award from a TV celebrity for her water-wise garden design.
Presenter of the TV show Gardening Australia, John Patrick, presented Hampton Park Secondary College and Chisholm Institute VET in Schools student Jessica Hempel with a certificate for the garden design, which she and fellow Chisholm students set up for display at the Expo.
Mr Patrick judged the designs at the Gardening Australia Expo at Caulfield Racecourse from various TAFEs and chose Jessica’s ‘multi-cultural Australia’ themed design for its symbolism.
The Chisholm horticulture students chose Jessica’s design among their own as the one to submit for the competition, which then won first place.
The competition, open to Victorian secondary schools and TAFE institutes which deliver a Certificate 2 in Horticulture, requires the students to provide a single design for a garden using plants from a list of those available from the sponsor, which this year was Flower Power, a new entrant to the Melbourne nursery scene.
Chisholm teacher John Hudson congratulated the students and said the competition also helped them develop a portfolio of work for use in seeking an apprenticeship.