Garden will be tribute to horticulture legend

Bloom: George Smith did not live to see his biggest project come about

A garden looks set to become a fitting tribute to a man who gave a huge amount of his time to keeping a village looking pretty.

For almost two decades George Smith was a leading light in Perthshire horticultural circles, pouring heart and soul into his home village of Bridge of Earn, in particular.

Affectionately known as “Mr Bloom” , he led Brig in Bloom to gold medal success in both the Beautiful Scotland and Take a Pride in Perthshire Awards.

Sadly, his most ambitious project was one he was unable to see through as illness claimed his life last year.

Locals following in his footsteps, however, are working to ensure the Balmanno and Brickhall Community Garden becomes a reality and serves as fitting tribute to “a special man”.

Fundraising has been a lengthy endeavour, but Brig in Bloom has now reached its target figure, with a £5,348 grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

There has already been backing from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Perth and Kinross Council, the Gannochy Trust, the Lochelbank Windfarm Fund and Tesco Bags of Help.

The hope is the garden will provide a tranquil place to relax, with plans for seating, paths, planting and dry stone walls. It is also hoped it will become a

“George Smith (pictured) wasso dedicated and did so much. The garden will be a very fitting tribute to him once complete.

AVRIL FULTON

haven for wildlife. Project leader Avril Fulton said: “He was a founder member of Brig in Bloom and worked tirelessly for it for over 19 years, driving forward all its projects.

“He was so dedicated and did so much. The garden will be a very fitting tribute to him once complete.

“We’ve now gathered all the funding we need to make the project a reality – just short of £50,000.

“We have not decided on a final name for the garden yet but the committee members are all agreed that it is going to be called after George.”

In addition, a cultural project has been taking place with the help of local people and the children of Dunbarney Primary School.

Bridge of Earn residents have been sharing stories with the pupils about the village’s farming life and local agriculture between the 1940s and 1960s which will be incorporated in a “listening post” at the garden.

Kilgraston pupils have also been researching the history of Brickhall Farm, where the garden will be created.

The Brig in Bloom committee hopes the garden could be open to the public by mid-june – a date important to some of the younger members of the project team, as Avril explained.

“The participation of the primary seven class at Dunbarney has been huge and I would love to see the garden open before they move on to secondary school,” she said.

“The heritage part of the project is now almost complete, with the Dunbarney pupils recording the interviews that will go into the listening post and Kilgraston pupils researching the history of the Brickhall Farm.”

mmackay@thecourier.co.uk

Picture: Steve Macdougall. The Brig Bloomer at the entrance to Bridge of Earn, one of many displays overseen by George Smith that helped earn the village awards.