Suwon City's Palm Garden Group Surpasses 1,000 Members... 624 Palm Gardens Created

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Chung Jun-seong] The membership of Suwon City's Palm Garden Group has surpassed 1,000 members, and a total of 624 palm gardens have been created to date.

The city held the '2024 Palm Garden Performance Report and Awards Ceremony: Open Gardens Made Together' on the 5th at the Ilwol Arboretum Visitor Center.

The Palm Garden Group, which launched in February last year, is a citizen volunteer group that participates in the palm garden policy and develops garden culture. The group has engaged in various activities including creating and monitoring palm gardens, and participating in Suwon Garden Day events.

This year, 312 palm gardens were created, bringing the total to 624. The city plans to create 266 more next year, with a goal of establishing a total of 1,000 palm gardens by 2026.

The palm garden performance report and awards ceremony included reports on Palm Garden Group activities, showcasing excellent citizen garden cases, remarks from Second Vice Mayor Hyun Geun-taek, the 2024 Civic Garden Competition and Best Palm Garden Contest awards ceremony, and a ceremony celebrating the Palm Garden Group's milestone of surpassing 1,000 members.

The 'Civic Garden Competition' held in August and September was a contest where participants created gardens in designated areas within the Suwon Global Lifelong Learning Center. Seven gardens created by citizens underwent document and on-site reviews. 'Happy Senior Gardener,' which created a garden with the theme 'Gathering Fragments of Memories,' was selected as the grand prize winner. The runner-up award went to 'Palaces Gardener' ('Our Garden'), and merit awards were given to 'Ilwol Jiou' ('Dancing Wind—Flowing as It Is') and 'Garden of Communication' ('Time That Comforts').

The Best Palm Garden Contest held in October and November included citizens who participated in creating palm gardens. Through evaluation by a review committee, 10 award-winning works were selected, including 1 grand prize, 2 runner-up awards, 3 merit awards, and 4 encouragement awards.

The grand prize went to 'Rumbini Garden' (Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism Suwon Temple), runner-up awards to 'Jeongja Field' (Jeongja 1-dong Residents' Autonomy Committee) and 'Well-being Garden' (Youngtong-gu Palm Garden Group), and merit awards to 'Natural Flower Field' (Homaesil-dong Korea Freedom Federation), 'Noksan Children's Flower Bed' (Noksan Kindergarten), and 'A Happy Garden with Yulji Peak' (Yulcheon-dong Guardian Volunteer Group).

Meanwhile, the city is promoting the Palm Garden Project, which creates citizen-led 'open gardens' throughout the city. Citizens and community groups plant flowers and trees in vacant lots, undeveloped land, and unused spaces to create gardens.

Second Vice Mayor Hyun Geun-taek, who attended the performance report, said, "The path you have walked has been a new path in creating palm garden culture," and expressed his sincere gratitude, stating, "I truly thank the Palm Garden Group family members for being with us to create a better community."