Posted on: Sunday, September 8, 2002

EDITORIAL
Inmate gardening is a breath of fresh air

Years ago in England, a group of prisoners at the minimum-security Leyhill prison in Gloucestershire turned over a new leaf by creating a gold-medal-winning garden at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show. The coup inspired a movie called "Greenfingers," and Leyhill prisoners have been entering their horticultural designs in the Chelsea Flower Show ever since.

Though there's no such competition for Hawai'i prisoners, we do have an outstanding program that has inmates involved in gardening out in the community. The Women's Community Correctional Center has a horticulture program that has inmates working for the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle on a number of projects.

Aside from teaching the inmates gardening and other life skills, the program saves The Outdoor Circle thousands of dollars a year in maintenance costs.

Now if this were a movie, these women would design an award-winning garden for 'Iolani Palace.

Don't rule it out.