Hamilton City Council’s Park Landscape Team jumped at the chance to design a themed display for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 at a well-known roundabout.
The process of the planting, set on Norton roundabout in Hamilton Kirikiriroa, took nearly a year in planning leading up to the final results.
A FIFA Women’s World Cup design was given to GIS/Mapping technician, Tony Urwin, who provided the Parks Team with the concept of what colours to use, spacing requirements and numbers of plants needed.
The plants were grown at Council’s nursery, located in Hamilton Gardens, along with the rest of the annual bedding in the CBD.
In total, 22,740 plants (379 trays) were grown. Choosing the right plants is important says Team Leader, Jo Berwick. A combination of snapdragons, alyssum, lobelias and spinach was the preferred choice due to the season and previous success of these plants on this particular roundabout.
“We wanted to stick to the FIFA Women’s World Cup brand colours as much as possible and the selected plants achieved this goal. These plants also give good coverage of the soil and don’t require too much trimming. They are also less prone to pest and disease”
Ms Berwick said that despite the challenges of planting in winter, they had some great results.
“Winter isn’t the greatest season for colour choices for annual bedding, and we did lose some plants along the way. But, we are pleased with how it looks, and it’s a big kudos to our combined team who worked really hard to achieve this.”
“Hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup is an incredible opportunity for Hamilton Kirikiriroa and our team had great fun playing a part in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said.
Previous flower-bed designs have been tied to city events such as Fieldays and major sporting fixtures like the Cricket World Cup.
