NParks brings together 50 Community in Bloom (CIB) groups from across Singapore to create five celebratory “SG50 CIB Gardens”. More than than 250 community gardeners from across the island, including residential estates, public and private organisations, schools and voluntary welfare organisations, are working with NParks staff to create distinctive garden displays.

These commemorative gardens celebrate our nation’s 50th birthday, which takes place this year, and the embodiment of a shared love for gardening. At the same time, they promote bonding among different gardening groups and communities.

An artist’s impression of what the SG50 CIB Gardens showcase will look like at HortPark.
"SG50 CIB Gardens", designed against a backdrop of much-loved places that have evolved over time, will be displayed in HortPark. The five gardens include:

Blk 50
  

HDB blocks have played a significant role in transforming Singapore since the 1960s, and house 85% of the country’s population Families have grown, lived and loved within these blocks, while community ties, precious memories and lifelong friendships have been forged at void decks of HDB blocks. ‘Blk 50’ encapsulates the essence of our collective memories of living spaces, corridors and void decks. Take a walk down memory lane in this nostalgia-themed garden, and enjoy the stories and exchanges with people around you.

Play Mosaic
  

In 1980s Singapore, playgrounds were locally designed to reflect local cultures and identity and featured finishes in glass mosaic tiles. ‘Play Mosaic’ incorporates the iconic dragon playground of yesteryear, which evokes fond childhood memories for many Singaporeans, and showcases it in a garden setting. The community showpiece is the dragon's spine, composed of a mosaic of stacked gardens. This captures the idea of bringing the community together, while inspiring an individual’s creativity.

Balik Kampung
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Balik Kampung’ harks back to Singapore’s idyllic kampung days. Installations of black-and-white comic panels highlight a time when hardcopy comic books captivated the young. Surrounding these panels is a meandering dry stream and a variety of fruit trees to depict a time when nature was our playground.

A kampung is never complete without an edible farm: as such, ‘Balik Kampung’ showcases indigenous herbs, spices, and vegetables identified and planted by our gardening groups to symbolise the kampung spirit, known as gotong royong or “cooperation in a community”.

Talk Bird, Sing Song
  

In the past 50 years, Singapore has undergone many changes, becoming an independent and successful city. Old versus new, globalisation versus national identity, is our landscape today truly ours? The concept “Talk Bird, Sing Song” recreates the traditional pastime of gathering to listen to bird-singing, by transplanting the experience into a community garden setting, evoking the vibrancy and spirit of community spaces conducive to leisurely conversations between neighbours.

2065
 

Walking through a series of doorways takes you through the imaginative possibilities of what the next 50 years of Singapore’s Community Green spaces can be. ‘2065’ is inspired by the increasing communal ownership of rooftop gardens, pocket spaces and the novel recycling habits of community gardeners. The garden celebrates SG50 by inspiring gardening communities to create ever more inventive and sustainable green spaces for the future.

The “SG50 CIB Gardens” at HortPark will be unveiled at the inaugural Community Garden Festival later this year. Join us at this exciting Festival which will be held over two weekends – 5 to 6 September and 12 to 13 September 2015 – and visit the gardens with your family and friends!

Text by Azza Dina

Grow your own fruit and vegetable and show them off!
Do you grow fruits and vegetables in your own gardens? If you do, don’t miss the opportunity to enter your most impressive fruit or vegetable in the first Community Gardens Edibles Competition which was launched on 4 April 2015. This is the chance for you to showcase your gardening talents and win a prize!
Registration closes on 30 May 2015.
More details available online.