IT started out two years ago as a modest plan to help Singaporeans get in touch with their roots - plant roots, that is.

The Community In Bloom programme aimed to start 50 gardens a year.

But it has already proved a bloomin' success - 240 have sprung up, and the number is still growing.

The programme, initiated by the National Parks Board, has resulted in gardens of fruit and vegetables sprouting across Singapore, run by residents in public and private housing estates and organisations and schools.

It aims to promote a gardening culture by encouraging and aiding gardening efforts by the community.

NParks provides guidance and advice to these gardening groups, such as on location of the garden and types of plants to grow.

Public housing estates, in particular, are where the plan is bearing fruit, not just in terms of providing welcome greenery, but in neighbourly bonding, too.

There are about 115 such gardens in public housing estates alone.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times Life!