Flourish & Thrive: Pebbles Green Project 2024

The team and young people at Murraythwaite completed the ultimate upcycling challenge, giving a third life to something that had already been upcycled before. They revamped a seating area created from pallets in the past, repainting it and using old tyres to create planters.

They also scattered wildflower seeds around the area to attract butterflies and bumble bees, and added other planters with fresh herbs and lavender to give a lovely aroma, making the space even more enjoyable.

Kyllimoons and Green Towers did great too. Kyllimoons entered the competition with a creative ladybird planter made of old tyres, and Green Towers created a lovely garden centrepiece out of pallets left by the builders after works done to the home!

We asked our homes with tiny outdoor spaces to create nice green corners, that could also become beautiful mindfulness areas. With the limited space available, St Teresa impressed us with their efforts to make every corner of their outdoor area bloom.

We received some other fantastic entries from Murraythwaite, Glenochar and Kyllimoons too, as you can see below.

For our homes without an outdoor space, this was the perfect category to showcase indoor plants.

Jasper House is lucky to have a big back garden, but it is completely concrete, so they decided to concentrate their efforts on ‘indoor green beauties’, keeping in mind that ‘green’ spaces promote good mental wellbeing as they stimulate lower frequency brain waves, helping relax and think creatively. We are delighted to introduce you to “Bruce”, their indoor tree.

Ruby House and Kyllimoons also entered this category with a lovely peace lily, a Yukka tree, and some basil that, in return, is helping the young person at Kyllimoons master his cutting skills (alongside making pasta sauce delicious!).

We invited our homes to help wildlife thrive in their gardens, and Kyllimoons took this invitation to heart. Their young person carefully planted Begonias, Campanulas, Lobelias, and Nasturtiums, learning a lot about these plants and their benefits to the ecosystem.

• Begonia: A natural air purifier.
• Campanula: These cascading flowers are rich in nectar and pollen, making them highly attractive to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.
• Lobelia: While these plants don’t have much pollen and nectar, their abundance of flowers attracts bees, which then feed on the companion-planted Campanula and Nasturtiums.
• Nasturtiums: These plants attract a variety of insects like black flies, keeping them away from other garden areas. They also attract pollinators and help maintain a healthy ecological balance. Since Nasturtiums self-seed, the home will be able to collect seeds to use in the garden next year.

Our garden kitchen category was all about growing food and learning about being self sufficient. There’s no better feeling than being able to go into the garden to pick some fresh herbs to sprinkle on your plate!

Bell View’s young person loves to eat fresh fruit and vegetables so this was the perfect category for them to enter. They planted strawberries and have already picked their first crop! They also planted coriander, tomato seeds and pepper seeds, which are growing beautifully. And lastly, they planted a pear and apple tree which should start to bear fruit within the next year or two.

We also received fantastic entries from Jasper House, Murraythwaite, St Teresa’s and Kyllimoons, which you can see below.