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Love for nature blossoms

Lilian Goh

Tree-planting, watering and weeding may sound like hard work.

But for a group of award-winning students from Yan Chai Hospital Wong Wha San Secondary School, a gardening project helped them appreciate nature and made them more confident.

Last year, the school applied for a subsidy from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to launch greening activities on its campus.

Form One students were asked to design and nurture a nine-square-metre garden plot near the car park.

They watered the plants and weeded the garden every day.

Each student was also given a small pot of flowers they put in the garden.

The young gardeners were rewarded for their hard work - they won the Greening School Project Award 2004's large garden plot category for secondary schools.

'It wasn't hard work. I enjoyed every minute of it. It was an interesting experience,' said Or Ka-ming, 13.

Together with his classmates, Ka-ming watered the plants twice a day and weeded about twice a week.

'I feel very satisfied when I look at the beautiful garden plot to which I made a contribution. I'm also happy that I helped to create a beautiful environment for my schoolmates,' he said.

Science teacher Ng Tsz-kit said they picked Form One students because they were new to the school. The project would help them develop a sense of belonging, Mr Ng said.

The teachers also believed that exposing students to trees and flowers would help them appreciate nature.

'I've learned a lot about plants through this project,' said Chan Lai-na, 15.

'For example, some flowers blossom in spring while others in winter. Gardening gave me a

chance to relax and helped relieve pressure from my studies.'

Lai-na said she was happy to have the chance to take part in the public flower exhibition at Victoria Park during the Lunar New Year. All schools taking part in the Greening School Project were invited to join the exhibition.

She and her schoolmates used several small pots of flowers to create a big pumpkin design.

Lai-na said: 'We got a great sense of satisfaction because we knew our work would be seen by thousands of people.'

Form Three students Chi Pui-shan, 15, and Tai Kong-keung, 16, said their experience in gardening two years ago made them join the school's garden club. They take part in greening activities regularly.

Pui-shan said there weren't enough trees in Hong Kong.

'I live in this district [Tseung Kwan O]. But there are very few trees in public areas. In fact, trees can help improve air quality. I think our city should plant more trees,' she said.

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