Gardens on Wheels 2025: A Rolling Canvas of Creativity and Community Flourished in Te Puke

This past weekend, Te Puke was transformed into a moving landscape of local ingenuity as the highly anticipated Gardens on Wheels 2025 event took over Jubilee Park. Part of a wider weekend celebrating the region’s green thumb spirit, which coincided with the Te Puke Kiwi Coast Lions Garden Ramble, the event showcased an extraordinary array of mobile gardens, where everything from simple toy wagons to elaborate wheelbarrows and utility vehicles became canvases for horticultural art.

The atmosphere was vibrant, drawing a crowd of community members and visitors eager to witness the creativity on display. The judges had an incredibly difficult job, as the quality and imaginative concepts across the categories—from small children’s entries to big installations—were truly exceptional. A massive round of applause and heartfelt congratulations go out to all the winners who demonstrated the depth of gardening passion here in the Bay of Plenty.

Fostering Resilience Through Collaboration

Our team at the Vector Group Charitable Trust was privileged to be a key collaborator, both on Gardens on Wheels and in the wider Te Puke Kiwi Coast Lions Garden Ramble. For the Gardens on Wheels display, our mission was to capture the joy, creativity, and community spirit of the event, documenting the winning entries, beautiful installations, and the lively prize-giving ceremony through high-quality photography and engaging video reels. Crucially, our Troppo Urban Food Forest initiative played a vital role in reinforcing the event’s link to sustainability and well-being. We donated a generous selection of tropical and sub-tropical food forest plants as giveaways, directly promoting kai resilience and food security by placing edible, productive plants into the hands and gardens of local residents. This focused initiative encourages the shift toward creating “backyard supermarkets” and helps build a more self-sufficient, resilient community in Te Puke.

A Community United by Generosity

The success of Gardens on Wheels 2025 was a testament to the powerful spirit of collaboration within the Te Puke community. A big shout-out and our deepest gratitude go to every single person who took the time and effort to create an entry, as well as to the incredible list of local businesses and organisations whose support was invaluable, including the Te Puke Kiwi Coast Lions for their overall support of the weekend’s gardening events. We extend our sincere appreciation to: Arun Mehan Bayleys Real Estate, Te Puke Landscape Supplies, Vector Group Charitable Trust, Te Puke Community Garden, Te Puke Mitre 10, Trevelyan’s Pack and Cool Ltd, Pacifica Home & Garden Store, Get Rooted Plants, Bee Wrapt, King Seeds, Revital, Goodwood, Sustainable Endeavours Charitable Trust, and MADE in Te Puke Charitable Trust. We truly appreciate the commitment you all show to making our beautiful day and our community so special.