Passchendaele Memorial Gardens
The region of Passchendaele in Flanders, Belgium, is of immense significance to New Zealand and its involvement in World War I. A staggering 5,000 New Zealanders were killed in Flanders in the series of battles leading to the Battle of Passchendaele. Over the centennial commemoration years starting later in 2014, the Flanders area will attract huge numbers of visitors.
The Passchendaele Memorial Gardens project includes nine poppy-shaped small gardens designed to represent each partner nation including Australia and the UK. This is an important opportunity for New Zealand to be represented with its own garden. The gardens are all in the shape of a poppy when seen from the air. Elements include three large “petals”, delineated by red planks; a central area designed for seating containing black gravel; a smaller “petal” containing an information panel; and a flagpole. Plant species will be typical for the represented nation.
The Passchendaele Society are honoured to have been selected to advance this project to make it happen. We have invited four leading landscape designer companies to enter their design for the garden, the winning design will be announced in due course and installed on our behalf.
