Tens of thousands of flowerbed plants in Mid Canterbury public gardens are removed each summer and winter.
But the district council is considering running a programme similar to another local body, which gives the plants away to residents.
Group manager community and open spaces Toni Durham said the programme run by the Whangarei District Council could be relevant in particular to perennial and biennial species plants.
These still had ‘‘life left in them’’ after their annual bedding cycle.
‘‘One possibility used elsewhere in New Zealand, is providing them to non-profit community groups for fundraising purposes, and we look forward to sharing an update once we’ve made further progress,’’ Durham said.
The Ashburton Courier approached the district council with regard to the Whangarei District Council initiative after a post was shared in support of it on the Ashburton Community Noticeboard Facebook page.
The poster asked if the district council ran a similar initiative here.
More than 25 people commented, many saying they would like to see a similar initiative here. One person even suggested starting a petition.
Durham said the district council cycled plants in flower beds before summer and winter each year. The open spaces team grew about 33,000 to 36,000 plants from seed per cycle.
The majority were annual varieties. When past their best and reaching end of life, they were composted or disposed of.
‘‘Some are biennial or perennial and these can be reused after the display bedding season as underplanting around trees and the like.’’
