A permanent and organic feature of the Three Counties Showground, outside Great Malvern, Worcestershire, is the Gardening for Children area.

Here, local schools are encouraged to take part part in educational projects, organised by the Three Counties Agricultural Society (TCAS) where, among other things, they learn how to sow, grow and harvest wheat and other crops.

But to encourage horticulture as well as agriculture, seven schools from the Bromsgrove area were set the task of designing a garden for the Malvern Spring Gardening Show, which takes place at the showground from May 10-13, 2007.

Two pupils, Aaron Poole of Parkside Middle School in Bromsgrove and Francesca Adams of Alvechurch CE Middle School, both 11, were winners of the competition and were on hand to proudly show their designs-made-proper at the show.

'The Eye', designed by Francesca, is literally in the shape of an eye. Hard landscaping materials depict the different parts of the eye - white pebbles as the whites, grey slate (chosen to match Francesca’s own eye colour as closely as possible) as the pupil, a small, bubbling water feature to mark the cornea and eyelashes made out of bamboo. Teardrop-shaped seats added a functional dimension and plants such as lavender and ceanothus provided the shades for the eye-liner and eye shadow.

'Bear Necessities', designed by Aaron, with its yellow and brown colour scheme, was shaped like a teddy bear. It, too, had seating areas and a small water feature, with the bear’s bow tie a shock of blue lavender. Although the gardens have been designed by individuals, the project has involved the whole class at both schools.

TCAS has helped to "project manage" the children with sourcing materials, evaluating costs, looking at the logistics of construction and advising on the desing and planting. The project has been funded by several local firms and organisations and Worcestershire County Council.

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