The Wollongong Memorial Gardens hosted its annual working bee today, an event that allows local residents to participate in the general maintenance and upkeep of the important community site.
Garden supervisor and horticulturalist Paul Gooda provided rose-pruning demonstrations and shared his vast knowledge on the various techniques to promote plant growth with volunteers.
The Wollongong City Council-organised event saw dozens of volunteers tend to over 3,000 roses, an opportunity that was comforting to those with loved ones memorialised at the gardens.
Volunteer Christopher Peck was one of the volunteers and assisted with the upkeep of the resting place of his mother-in-law.
While the gardens presented an opportunity for the community to learn from experts, the volunteers were also able to give back and leant a helping hand in preparing the roses for winter.
Today I’m at the Wollongong Memorial Gardens working bee! Dozens of locals have volunteered to help prune the thousands of roses growing here and learn a thing or two about gardening from the organisers. Stay tuned! #uowtv #uowcreative pic.twitter.com/Z5kY34D5n6
— Hannah Scopelitis (@hannahscop) March 26, 2025
