A TEAM of Winchester school children have taken part in a special gardening challenge.

Pre-preparatory boys at Pilgrims’ headed to the RHS Gardens at Wisley on Thursday (May 22) to enter this year’s Budding Gardener’s Challenge for schools.

The children designed and cultivated a small area incorporating recycled materials called Castaway – a pirate raft built from castaway bric-a-brac.

Flowers were grown in an old biscuit tin, rigging was made from garden twine and a crow’s nest sat on the runner bean pole mast.

They built a papier-mâché anchor with small white plants to look like barnacles with red geraniums firing from the cardboard canon.

Judging this year’s competition was a representative of Blue Peter who viewed all 90 entries.