Horticulture to the fore
Edinburgh park’s £6m revamp is the biggest in Scotland
An historic park in Edinburgh is to get a multi-million pound revamp. Work has now started on the £6 million project at Saughton Park, which will see old features refurbished and new facilities created.
The city council-run project, the largest urban park restoration in Scotland, aims to refurbish the park and make it a major visitor destination, showcasing horticultural and gardening excellence, offering exceptional recreational and visitor facilities and opportunities for learning and volunteering. This also includes a new home for project partners, the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society and Friends of Saughton Park, in a restored stable block, who will help maintain some of the gardens.
The plan is to emulate the success of 1908, when the 18th century parkland was redesigned as the venue for the Scottish National Exhibition, attracting 3.5m visitors.
The ambitious project, led by manager Linda Anglin, includes restoration of the walled garden, sunken garden and winter garden glasshouses containing a wide range of tropical plants and refurbishment of existing floral display beds, including a rose garden.
New garden projects include the creation of a herbal physic community garden, new 135x4.8m (443x16ft) herbaceous borders and three new fruit and nut tree orchards, with cordon and espalier trained examples, along with six bee hives to aid pollination. The venue will also be carefully managed to develop biodiversity and support wildlife.
“We want to create a new model for urban parks, creating an attractive resource and teaching facility that will support the interests and needs of the local community, including schools,” said project development manager Pete McDougall.
The restored park is scheduled to reopen in August 2018. ● Visit www.edinburgh.gov.uk/ saughtonpark.