The Sunflower Challenge

Compete with friends, family, colleagues or classmates to grow the tallest sunflower and raise funds to support local communities at the same time!

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Sunflower season is upon us so pull up your gardening gloves and get competitive with your colleagues, friends or classmates to raise funds to make an impact in local communities with Groundwork.

Plant your sunflower seeds and compete to grow the tallest sunflower! Agree a date to plant your seeds in early summer and a date to measure your sunflowers towards the end of summer to see who comes out on top to take the title!

And if the title of Best Grower alone isn’t enough, you could award a prize to the winner!

 

 

Great for Kids!

This is a great challenge to get kids involved in throughout the summer, so let them take the lead in tracking your sunflower’s progress with this Sunflower Diary.

 

 

How to take part
What you will need
  • Sunflower seeds (you can buy these online or at your local garden centre or shop. Remember to check the packet to see how tall they grow; you’ll want the tallest ones you can find!)
  • Compost
  • Small pot to plant your seed
  • A larger pot or a sunny spot in your garden to plant your seedling as it grows bigger
  • A watering can or any simple watering method

Ps. No garden? No problem! Sunflowers don’t need to be planted outside, as long as you have a bright and sunny space inside they’ll be happy!

Step-by-step
  1. Ask your competitors to donate £5 to Groundwork to join in. You can donate by clicking here.
  2. Put some compost in your small starter pot, not quite to the top. Poke your finger into the soil to make a small hole to pop your seed in.
  3. Pop your sunflower seed into the hole and cover over with a little compost. Give it a little water to make the compost nice and damp.
  4. Place your pot somewhere bright and sunny (a windowsill would be perfect!) and top up with a little water whenever it feels dry.
  5. After a couple of weeks, you should see your plant starting to poke through. At this point, you can start measuring its weekly progress. Time for any kids to start filling out their Sunflower Diary!
  6. When your plant starts getting too big for its small pot, plant it in a bigger pot or in a sunny spot in your garden.
  7. Watch it grow! When you measure your sunflower you should measure from the base of the stem to the top of the stem.
  8. Share a photo of your sunflower on social media tagging @groundworkuk #GWSunflowerChallenge

 

 

If you would like to find out more about fundraising for Groundwork or would love to get your workplace or school involved then please get in touch at fundraising@groundwork.org.uk.