Plans to reinvigorate and bolster one of the secret corners of Hobart Town Hall are beginning to blossom.
Tucked along the northern edge of the building, the Lord Mayor’s Garden is a small green space which is rarely used, despite being open to the public.
Hannah Moloney, one of the hosts on the ABC's Gardening Australia, is leading a project to make the site more resilient to climate change and more inviting to the public.
“It’s thinking about whole-of-ecosystem health and that goes beyond the fence line,” Ms Moloney said.
“We’re really curious about how we can potentially evolve the garden so it’s more diverse and more alive.”
With detailed designs for the garden transformation still in the works, the experienced green thumb turned to the city’s youth for inspiration.
Nearly two dozen young people from across the Greater Hobart region came together in late November to brainstorm ways to improve the site.
Hannah Fairbrother, an 18-year-old from Longley, said she “didn’t even know the garden existed” and that it “definitely needs to be a more inviting area”.
“When you’re surrounded by cars and concrete, it’s good to have a little spot you can find some grass, trees and flowers,” Ms Fairbrother said.
Areas to grow vegetables, rotating artist exhibitions and more native plants were among the list of suggestions which came from the passionate workshop.
Ms Moloney said it was great to get the young people’s “fresh eyes” on the project and hear their ideas for how to make the site more appealing.
“I’ve got so much good juicy stuff to work with and I’m going to pull it into some draft concept designs,” she said.
“There’s going to be some incredible things here that we can bring to life so definitely watch this space.”
The garden transformation is one of the projects endorsed by the City of Hobart's Youth Climate Action Fund, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
