Children from Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery become gardeners for the day and plant flower seeds at St Michael’s Hurst

Children at a Bishop’s Stortford pre-school became gardeners for the day and planted flower seeds at a neighbouring housing estate.

Vistry Group invited the youngsters from Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery to St Michael’s Hurst, where it is building houses on land off Farnham Road under its Countryside Homes brand.

All the children were given seeds to sow in new planters outside the show home on Barker Close. A plaque is in place so that when the flowers bloom, visitors know who planted them.

The nursery was also given packets of seeds and trowels for children to plant at their Michaels Road kindergarten – the former Mountbatten Indian restaurant and, before that, the Red White and Blue pub – or at home.

Aimee Gill, Monkey Puzzle’s deputy manager, said: “This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to learn about our local environment and interact with the community around us.

“They enjoyed meeting the team and learning how to use garden tools to plant seeds, which we can then watch grow when we go on our morning walks.”

Lisa Hill, regional sales and marketing director for Vistry Central Home Counties, said: “It’s very important to us to make connections with the community where we are building new homes. It was delightful to host the event.

“I’m grateful to MBM Landscapes for donating the soil and seeds for the children to plant and providing tips during the activity. We hope they had a memorable morning and look forward to seeing the flowers bloom.”

Vistry is building 529 homes in phases at St Michael’s Hurst.