Pupils win garden competition

TWO schools from Argyll and Bute have won a competition to design a ‘pocket-sized garden’.

Gigha Primary and Dunoon Grammar were selected from around 300 entries.

The environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful, invited eco-schools from across Scotland to enter the Design a One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden competition.

Pupils were asked to design a colourful and exciting pallet or pocket-sized garden which included plants for humans, plants for wildlife and which represented Scotland’s history and heritage.

The winning schools, selected by members of the Garden for Life Forum, will now have the chance to bring their designs to life.

They will plant and grow their designs that will form the Living Garden feature at the Gardening Scotland exhibition this June.

Gigha Primary’s winning entry was a replica of the Isle of Gigha, including its rocky coast, beaches and buildings.

Pupils from Dunoon created The Fly- ing Scotsman locomotive out of flowers.

Eve Keepax, food and environment officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: ‘ We have been so excited by the diversity of ideas in how young people have interpreted the three themes of One Planet Picnic, wildlife gardening, and the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology as well as how many young people have taken part.

‘It was fantastic to hear from schools how much they enjoyed entering the competition – discussing ideas, celebrating their heritage and planning to grow food for themselves and wildlife and doing it all sustainably.

‘There was so much inventiveness, honesty and humour in the designs.

‘It has been joyful to see them, and I hope that this joyfulness will translate from the designs into the Living Garden.’

The Living Garden will feature at this year’s Gardening Scotland festival, which will take place at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh from June 2- 4.