'Tend a city park garden': Seoul recruiting gardening crew for Seoul Forest, Boramae and World Cup parks

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is accepting applications on a first-come, first-served basis for 75 participants in its "2026 Seoul Gardening Crew," a program through which residents tend and maintain gardens in city parks, the city announced Sunday.

This year, 55 young participants in May designed and planted a 171.2-square-meter garden at Seoul Forest, and the program's second half focuses on ongoing garden maintenance.

A total of 75 participants — 25 at each site — will tend gardens across three sessions: on Aug. 29 and on Sept. 5 and 12, at Seoul Forest, Boramae Park and World Cup Park respectively.

Applicants may choose one preferred site. The program is open to anyone with an interest in gardening, including youth, general members of the public, and citizen and community gardeners. Main activities include weeding, pruning, replanting, mulching and checking on plant health.

A "garden bingo" game will run alongside the sessions, with challenges such as spotting flowering plants, listening for birdsong, picking up hidden litter, finding different leaf shapes and filming a team video.

First-time participants will receive a Seoul Gardening Crew T-shirt. Those who complete each session will receive a commemorative keycap — a small plastic, metal or other material cover that sits atop a computer keyboard key.

"We hope the Seoul Gardening Crew gives residents a chance to tend park gardens together and bring a gardening culture into their everyday lives," said Kim Yeong-hwan, director of Seoul's Garden City Bureau.