Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from The Woden School this week helped to launch a Ngunnawal garden project at the Yarralumla Nursery, the ACT government's nursery.
The opening of the garden was part of NAIDOC Week (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee), with its impact hoped to continue far into the future.
The garden will become a resource for the propagation of traditional plants and for workshops about traditional Ngunnawal plant use.
Nursery director Jane Carder said the garden was being developed in consultation with local Aboriginal business people Tyrone Bell from Thunderstone Aboriginal Cultural Services and Adam Shipp from Yurbay.
"We've been working collaboratively with those two Aboriginal businesses to look at a garden design and work out how we can build a relationship with them that is sustainable into the future," Ms Carder said.
The Ngunnawal garden is also a chance to resurrect traditional plant species not found so readily around Canberra in modern times.
"It could be used as seed bank and people could come and do tours and have a look," Ms Carder said. "We're looking at getting Aboriginal plant names on the plants as well."
Ms Carder said the children from The Woden School, aged from 12 to 17, would continue to have a role at the garden.
"This is a special project, just for them," she said. "They can come along and support each other and get involved in the propagation and planting of those plants. Not only that, the students are also interested in putting some artwork into the garden. And already they're looking at making beehives."
Ms Cardner said the site was cleaned up by community service groups from Justice and Community Safety. The Woden School students then set to improving the soil, as a first step.
"What they did this week was sow a green manure crop, made from cowpea and millet and red clover, and that's sown to try to improve the garden," she said.
