HOW TO BEAUTIFY!

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 22, 7 November 1944, Page 5

HOW TO BEAUTIFY!

SUGGESTIONS F6R _ WHAK ATANE SLANTS FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL the Whakatane Beautifying Society staged' an essay competition for students of the High School, on the subject 'Suggestions for the Beautifying • of Whakatane;' As a result some good examples' of practical thinking were produced by some " twenty who are : generally to b&' congratulated on their effort. It is our intention to print the. "winning essays as we have the opportunity } and in today's issue we • give the winning essay by Margaret Kirk, which reads as under:— Introductions are nearly always ■ dodged by the reader, because they ; are generally and far from the point. You won't have the patience, and, as this, essay its limited, I won't have the but I will say that such an admirable ■ Society cannot succeed without the co-operation and display of good on the part of the townspeople. The best type of start to ■make would be to tidy up the places where improvements have been started, before distributing beauty over the yet untouched parts. First in that category should come our Centennial Park which is not fin a fit condition to commemorate any centennial. The parking area which now contains puddles and weeds should contain a few loads of shingle. The lawns need regular and the garden beds need some colourful flowers or shrubs such as the. Japanese variety of evergreen Azalea, Broom Escallomia or v 7 •f Tamarix. :

Perhaps some public spirited citizen' at. the Heads would not mind putting a little of his time into the cultivation of such things. Also ? there is accommodation for seats on the cliff lout no seats as yet. Then there is- perhaps the great- • est that of the Maori pah .alongside. It is essential that something should be done, but I can nothing. Along the. breastwork of stone why not plant a brightly coloured variety of iceplant or nasturtium. Another beauty spot could be made by the Wairere Stream j with lawn on either slde ? and the. stream dered by Anemone ) Japonica, Irises (the Kaeferi variety will grow in water) Hydrangeas or even Azaleas*. One" or two trees of the. Prunus variety or Flowering Cherries with some comfortable seats would complete the picture. Virginian creeper could be planted up the concrete retaining wall on the Hillcrest approach. A sturdy variety of iceplant or nasturtiums, would grow in the crevice's of that *l>are rocky and pohutukawas would admirably sooth that scar in the landscape made by the Harbour Board behind Bisley's. In fact pohutukawas along the whole bluff as Mr Brabant suggested 40 years ago would be a magnificent idea. Then at the foot of the bluff is a narrow grassy waste where once was a pile of telegraph poles. With this section lawned, and a narrow rock garden overshadowed by a large Pohutu'kawa we have another of 'f those odd attractive cornel's. Nothing much can be done to,the waterfront road behind the. shops. ■Go-operative shopkeepers, can have decent gates which they must keep closed, and t though this hardly comes under the, heading "Beautifying all the filth deposited in the river seems to collect in the corner by Bridgers furniture shop where the people .swim. A neat lawn and new seats would add to the appearance of that small area -of waterfront planted in pohutukawas and the corne.r of the R.M. Office. When one starts improving the site of the, town dump the plan for reclaiming and passing the road across, limits the ideas> which are abundant.. Perhaps nasturtiums grown at random would help to cover the rubbish to a certain extent until that part is filled in.

"Poliaturoa" will always be impressive but it lacks colour. I suggest iceplants in the crevices and in the gardens, at its base, a. selection of bright flowers and shrubs such as gazarias j nastturtiums and :arctotis. I liave only one more suggestion regarding Whakatane's business area. Could Mr Brabant be prevailed upon to pull down his "Plume" notice? "Ye olde swimming hole'' at the river end of Landing Road would do well for bathing sheds, lawn and brilliant Eucalyptus. Ficifolia. In the summer it is popular for grownups, and children alike, so the work ■would not go unappreciated.

but not least on this list comes the a .shadow of its former days. Under the gum trees at the corner of the football field you could have, short grass, a seat, and a few daffodil and jonquil bulks (if the school children could be persuaded not to pick them). The whole place needs a thorough overhaul and tidy up a especially that wilderness of overgrown lawn at the western end which spoils so many trees chances of looking their best. When the grass is out something that takes little care, such as Broom or bulbs could be planted in groups about that area. The paths need trimming up and the band rotunda could do with a jiaint. Could Jacarandas which like a warm sea coast climate be planted in odd corners of the town. Here are the suggestions some of them expensive, and unpractical of one High School pupil who wishes the noble Society every success, and hopes they have the iunds to exploit all the ideas received to the fullest.