Mr Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development, joined some 200 guests to celebrate the successful completion of the Singapore Botanic Gardens' Gardenstars project at the Botanic Gardens this morning.

The Gardenstars project brought together over 30 students from Assumption Pathway School and Northlight School to design and implement a garden in the Botanic Gardens.

These students were advised and guided by internationally recognised, award-winning garden designers - Australia's Jim Fogarty, and Singapore's very own Alan Tan.

They were allocated 500 sqm plot of land in the Gardens, have spent a month to design and complete the garden during which they attended classes conducted by the two garden designers.

Comprising four mini-gardens connected by garden pathways, their design included plants and recycled materials woven into the garden landscape.

As part of the Singapore Botanic Gardens' 150th anniversary celebrations, the inaugural Gardenstars activity was aimed at cultivating the message of hope - to inspire us that with hard work, commitment and passion, one could one day blossom into future "stars" in the horticultural industry and have a hand in shaping Singapore's vision of a City in a Garden.

Singapore Botanic Gardens' Director, Dr Chin See Chung, hoped construction of the garden was beneficial to the personal development of the students and that they would be inspired to learn more about horticulture.

"After working with established garden stars like Jim Fogarty and Alan Tan, we trust the students found this experience both fun and educational, and managed to pick up useful skills and values that can be applied not only in gardening, but also in their daily lives."

Muhammad Yushan, a 13-year-old student from Assumption Pathway School, felt that the overall experience of the event was an enriching one.

"During the course of the Gardenstars project, we learnt a lot about garden design and how we can express our creativity through gardening.

"To finally see the completion of the garden after a month of hard work was very satisfying and rewarding for all of us. We now know the efforts put in by the horticulturalists to ensure that we have beautiful gardens to visit."

Minister Mah also announced that the Singapore Botanic Gardens will have a 9.8 hectare extension along Tyersall Avenue at the western boundary of the Gardens.

This extension is a piece of forested land which is contiguous with the existing rainforest area in the Singapore Botanic Gardens and will be used for the development of new botanical attractions like the Learning Forest and Marshland.

This development will create an exceptional forest experience for nature education and nature watching, just outside the busy Orchard Road shopping belt.

Development plans are underway and the project is due to be completed in 2012.

Minister Mah Bow Tan and Assumption Pathway School students in their Garden of Hope

Minister Mah Bow Tan and Northlight School students in their Garden of Hope