Sat 9 & Sun 10 August 2025
by Ashleigh Dharmawardhana & Carlo Tolentino
Montague community parklet was activated over a sunny weekend, perfectly fitting for a plant workshop. Led by Steph Ochona, the workshops were an opportunity for residents to learn about native flora, plant them inside the parklet walls, and learn how to take care of them properly. Steph was generous in delivering practical knowledge, as well as sharing the importance of caring for and reintroducing Indigenous plants to urban environments.
Internally, there was keen engagement for the idea of running a plant workshop – staff at the Gladstone and students from the interior architecture class all expressed interested. Fortunately, this reflected in community engagement. A small but passionate crowd gathered at the sessions, eager to get their hands dirty in the garden.
By nature of placing a parklet outside of a residential living space, there is a lot of foot traffic – people in traffic are in a flow state, often rushing to their destinations. Getting people to stop can be a challenge. However, a lot of passersby did come and ask about the plants. On the Saturday, 49 people passed through, 14 stopped to check out the workshop, and 5 stopped to ask questions – 2 of which weren’t residents of The Gladstone. Many were disappointed they couldn’t attend, mostly because of routine weekend activities for their kids.
Of those who did attend, one particularly interesting group of 5 residents, originally hail from Ireland. They are not gardeners, and even described their ability to keep a plant alive-and-well as fairly low. Yet, they were keen listeners who were invested in the knowledge Steph had to share. The group spoke of how important and valuable it was to learn about native plants, and about their value to the environment and society. They reflected on broader issues like colonisation, and the impact it has had on the preservation, respect, and general knowledge of native life. Following on from this conversation, they described the chance to look after their own plant as ‘really exciting’, even thinking about how/where they can grow their own plants up in the apartment – a great outcome, thanks to Steph’s passion and skill.
What was particularly interesting was how the group took ownership of the parklet in a surprising, resourceful, and self directed way. Using some tape, they labelled their plants with names – and left positive messages around their plants’ new home. Taking agency over the space is a large goal of this parklet, and it was wonderful to see how native plants could work as a gateway to naturally inspiring this sense of ownership. Some weeks later, we have seen the results – the plants have been taken care of, indicating that residents have grown some attachment to the life they’ve gotten to know in the parklet. This is a fantastic result, indicating a higher level of agency has been assumed!
The community weren’t the only things taking ownership over the space – the plants have also attracted little insects to the space. It’s created a (literally) buzzing atmosphere, and invited life back into this very built up neighbourhood. The area is generally devoid of trees and shrubbery, outside of the small trees that line the street – even in the park, which is mostly just a grassy plain. It would be fairly uncommon to spot much natural life passing through, based on our observations. It is indeed very pleasant to see some small critters come into the space.
Overall, the workshops were a success. They presented a unique opportunity to connect people with place, in a way that welcomes ongoing connection. It very literally planted a seed for people to feel ownership over the space, which is a testament to how opportunities to engage with nature can connect people to their urban environments. Feedback from those who engaged in the workshop was overwhelmingly positive – one participant shared that it was ‘grounding’, and shared their hopes for more events like this to happen in the parklet. These insights indicate two things: one, that this form of engagement is valuable in creating agency over shared space, and that a desire to connect with nature may often be present in urban communities. A desirable outcome indeed!