A section of Christchurch's central city is about to become a whole lot greener

Almost 20-thousand native plants and trees are being sown around the under-construction Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre.

The building's scheduled to open in October next year following multiple delays, including a legal dispute between the contractor and government delivery agency.

Landscape Architect, Hamish Cochrane says nearly one-thousand trees up to three-metres tall are being added.

He says the planting design references the region's waterways, rivers, and lakes on one-side -- and the Canterbury Plains' forests on the other.