Before adorning the CBD streets, 650 flower baskets go through a behind-the-scenes glow-up.
Green by Nature became a hangout spot last week with around 50 volunteers, alongside staff, who weren’t there to be wallflowers.
They were filling baskets with petunias, impatiens, begonias and lobelias, and the usual fertilizer and potting mix, ahead of their installation in early December.
Operations manager Thomas Duxfield, was pleased as punch with the efforts.
“Some people love it so much to come back the next day,” he enthuses
“It's an opportunity to contribute to the look of the town, and they can look and go ‘I provided some of those baskets’, and they can probably pick out the ones they've designed.
“Everyone's quietly gone about their work in a real methodical way, and there's not been any fuss or issue, which is really pleasing to see.”
The baskets are being kept in a Green by Nature shade house and watered four to five times a day before making their city debut in December. They will be hung along Trafalgar, Hardy, Selwyn, Collingwood and Bridge streets.
Green by Nature team manager Craig Beirne says he won’t need to climb onto roofs to switch on irrigation now that both sides of the streets are now fitted with Bluetooth-enabled water lines.
“The water run times are for about five minutes each basket, and they only re-water them twice a day,” he says.
“Mainly in the early hours of the morning or late at night so we don't disrupt the people that are having their late dinner outside in the summer with the water dripping on them.
“The other reason is that the baskets keep moist for a lot longer when they’re in cool, dark conditions.”
